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Ski map artist James Niehues, the 'Monet of the mountains' (2021)

115 points

by gyomu

4 days ago

| past

| 4 comments

| adventure.com

| HN

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reconnecting

4 hours ago

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I think it's wrong to mention ski maps without crediting Pierre Novat (1), perhaps the original creator of this style (2) since 1962. But what is more important is that Novat actually took the work of Heinrich Berann (3) for Val d'Isère (4) and amended it that result is what we know as ski maps today.

There is some debate about who was first, Berann or Novat, but either way, this was 40 years before James Niehues from the article even started working in this style.

1. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Novat (FR)

2. http://tropfragile.free.fr/galerie/Photos.html

3. https://www.berann.com/panorama/

4. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Left-of-the-dashed-line-...

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convenwis

5 hours ago

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This is from a few years ago. Apparently he retired: https://www.kuer.org/arts-culture-entertainment/2021-10-22/j...

Since I've been skiing this has been how I've experienced all the terrain. His maps just are skiing to me. But, interestingly, with the rise of smartphones/gps apps like Slopes and the late lamented Fatmap have started to move the ski world towards 3d terrain maps and away from these artistic maps.

I have a side project I've been meaning to dust off that translated GPS coordinates to locations on Niehues maps. I got it working reasonably well but the distortions were significant enough that it needs a lot of control points to do the mapping.

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browningstreet

4 hours ago

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I hope and believe that a screen map can't ever compete with the size of printed maps and the big boards they have on runs.

There's also something functionally superior to having someone who created an aesthetic and standard across ski maps.. someday they'll evolve and we'll have something different, but being able to show up to a new ski mountain and immediately understand the map: it's excellent UX.

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asdff

3 hours ago

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The only issue I've ever had with trail maps is my first time at Mammoth. For those who aren't familiar, there is actually a sort of valley between the first set of chair lifts and then the summit, so you can't actually go from say the summit to the top of high five express lift even though it looks like perhaps you can, you have to go around this front ridge then work your way to the top of the high five express lift. On the trail map painting, this ridge is pretty subtle and hard to appreciate without already knowing about it.

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pietervdvn

1 hour ago

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OpenStreetMap has ski trails. OsmAnd even has a ski routing engine. Also checkout https://mapcomplete.org/ski

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asdff

3 hours ago

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I hate using my phone while snowboarding. Between the cold and the often lack of service the battery sinks like a stone on the slopes to the point where I have to use it sparingly or risk losing communication with other people on the mountain. So risky to pull the phone out on lift too. I've known people who dropped it there and then it's gone forever. Pinch and zoom would suck in the cold too. I'll take the free trailmap I can unfold with my mittons on any day.

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convenwis

2 hours ago

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Oh, I love paper maps. Snowbird is trying to get rid of the paper maps and it drives me nuts. They still print a few but mostly you can't get them on the mountain. Seems like a totally misguided environmental idea.

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boulos

14 minutes ago

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Every lift at Snowbird has the map printed on the bar. So you can plan your route on the way up. I agree that when you get lost, that map won't save you, but I think an offline PDF is also fine.

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kevin_thibedeau

1 hour ago

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There are dedicated GPS units that are glove operable, leashable, and support topo maps.

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dang

4 hours ago

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(Year added above. Thanks!)

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nateburke

1 hour ago

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Love everything he's ever done. Phones and skiing don't mix. Dropping a paper trail map off the lift won't ruin your run. Dropping your phone will. Why spend time thinking about wireless, bars of service etc. when you can look at ART to plan your next downhill ADVENTURE???

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mikeocool

3 hours ago

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I bought the book of his work that was on kickstarter a few years ago, because ski maps are something I've always kind of loved.

Honestly it was a little disappointing -- the maps in the book are just the paintings of the mountains/terrain, no trail/lift/amenity markings, and thumbing threw it for a little while, they all kind of look exactly the same.

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pimlottc

2 hours ago

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I wonder if that’s an artistic decision or a reflection of how the work is split up between the painter and the resorts. But I agree, it’s more interesting to see the finished maps with all the runs and lifts.