Painting the skiing experience

Recently, I picked up a coffee-table, picture book revealing over 30 years of painting work by James Niehues. 

He is a Colorado artist that created many maps that have been the companions of millions of skiers and snowboarders at resorts and mountains across the globe, but mostly here in North America. 

That heavy, 5 lbs book, titled “The Man Behind the Maps”, displays more than 200 individual trail maps Niehus has hand-drawn and painted. 

It has also became the number one Art-Illustration Kickstarter campaign of all time and is loved by skiers and snowboarders who have been familiar with his artsy as well as unique trail maps.

I personally agree than they’re much better than computer-generated map and compared favorably when put side by side with those (see Telluride vs. Morzine-Les Gets) and constitute a very effective blend of artistry and a complex creative license to fit complex mountain reliefs into a flat map and for rendering a pretty realistic experience of what’s in store for the user. 

Great job! I almost wish I had pick James Niehues’ job as a career...