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Cougar Kickoff Countdown: 30 Days

30 days to UConn.

Y Mountain is the most prominent man made land mark in Utah Valley. The "Y" was initially commissioned by university president George H. Brimhall in 1906, but was supposed to be the full school acronym: B-Y-U. The "Y" was first on the mountain in order to properly center the acronym. The amount of time and labor it would take to put B-Y-U on the mountain side was grossly underestimated, taking more time to do just the "Y" than had been planned for all three letters. Originally it was just covered in lime powder and took hundreds of students to carry the powder up the mountain. In 1908 20,000 pounds of sand and cement were hauled up the mountain to make it a more permanent and durable feature. It has since had blocks added to it. At 380 feet tall and 130 feet wide, the "Y" takes up 32,847 square feet on the mountain side and is one of the largest monograms in the country.