Malan's Hike and the Flaming "W" Hike
Students surrounding bonfire, 1947-1948
Throughout the 1930s-1957, a shorter hike dubbed the Flaming W hike replaced the longer Mt. Ogden hike, students would only hike to Malan's Peak. At the beginning of the school year in 1930, it was noted that students started on the annual Malan's Basin/Peak hike. Students gathered at the Weber College campus at 5 p.m. and walked up 24th street, to the foothills of Malan's peak. The students arrived at the peak after dark, built a bonfire, and sat around the fire until the fire was reduced to embers.
In 1957, the tradition of using fire to illuminate Malan's heights stopped after the flames burned out of control and caught the mountainside on fire. The Flaming W tradition continued from 1961 to the present day with the use of various nonflammable materials like painting the "W" on the mountain, a living "W" made out of sumac trees, and most recently, electric lights.
Students performing at bonfire celebration, 1951-1952
Students standing around flaming W bonfire, 1962-1963
Flaming W, photo by WSU marketing department, 2006
Setting up the lighted flaming W, photo by WSU marketing department, 2008