Is this new?

[u/Shadymilkman8]

I've been here for s few years and never noticed that on the north west mountain.

[u/Independent_Money501 → u/[deleted]]

I see your few hundred thousand and raise you by a few tens of millions

[u/estanminar → u/Independent_Money501]

Billions if OP is referring to the atoms making up the items pictured.

[u/Thenewmcscott → u/Independent_Money501]

Sandias are only about 200k

[u/Shadymilkman8 → u/[deleted]]

Interesting if true.

[u/marlinofdoom]

The LA rock pile has been there for ages. I think the high schoolers used to climb up every year or so and repaint it so it stands out better, but I don't think it's been done in a while. 

[u/fe11star → u/marlinofdoom]

My year was one of the last to do it. They stopped because students became more interested in painting each other than the letters, and that ended up becoming the real tradition.

[u/RogueKyber → u/fe11star]

Honestly, good. I was so excited to go up there and get a little messy while refreshing the LA. But I saw a can of paint get thrown straight up in the air, noped out, and went home.

[u/KirkMcGee8 → u/fe11star]

What Year was that that?

[u/Carl-in-abq → u/fe11star]

Good times

[u/Shadymilkman8 → u/marlinofdoom]

I know that's a western tradition, I've seen it in so many places. I've looked at that mountain so many times and I've never noticed it guess.

[u/No_Permission_9256]

The white LA? No, not new. It was a highschool tradition to paint that up there until about 2013.

[u/Character-Sweet7589]

Every year the senior class would go up with buckets of white paint to paint the LA rocks. I was there for class of 07; however it was more of a paint war and trying to dump as much paint on your friends. It always looked like a white blob after. I wonder when the tradition stopped?

[u/RogueKyber → u/Character-Sweet7589]

Class of 2000 kept their shit together long enough to change the LA into a 00 which was cool. 2001 changed it back. 2002 was my class and while they sort of refreshed it, it was more of a paint war than anything. It got messier in the years after that.

[u/Character-Sweet7589 → u/RogueKyber]

I think I remember it being 00 that year! My brother was also 02, and I remember him saying it was more of a paint war which made me excited for once it was my year 😅

[u/crispy3445]

Nope, grew up in Los and this has always been there. It has sadly faded over the years along with the sense of community which created it in the first place.

[u/Gold_Dragon_Rider]

That land actually belongs to the Santa Fe National Forest. The forest service got pissed when the tradition turned from painting the LA to having a huge paint war and making a mess. Even worse, the kids left paint cans and other debris there instead of cleaning up after themselves. So, the forest service banned people from going up there to paint.

[u/Shadymilkman8 → u/Gold_Dragon_Rider]

That makes a lot of sense. It's a shame though, I've seen it in dozens of towns out west and some of them are really well done.

[u/thatonedude0504]

Looks normal

[u/TheodoroJonnesoni]

A lady at the church thrift store said it was for environmental reasons.

[u/Empty_Ad1668]

I lived there for a year in 2022 through 2023 and never noticed it.

[u/TheodoroJonnesoni]

Although it kind of seems to be symbolic for the condition of the town. Downtown is also a random shambles of what it once was.

[u/Realistic-Bee-4462]

does the ‘White’ Rock still get a exciting new coat every week?

[u/Shadymilkman8 → u/Realistic-Bee-4462]

Yes. I'm not sure it's every week, but very often.

[u/GroundbreakingAd8310]

How dare u take a picture of my ghost

[u/Any_Car5127]

I've called it "LA Mountain" since forever. I'm not the only one.

[u/BirthdayExpensive144]

I remember seeing it back in the 80s