Legendary Mapmaker Challenges The Internet With Ski Resort Guessing Game

Odds are, if you've used a ski resort map in North America, you've seen the work of James Niehues, a now-legendary mapmaker.

Periodically, Niehues shares one of his maps sans-marking online to see if skiers can guess which resort he depicted.

Here's the latest from Niehues.

Full disclosure: I didn't have a clue which ski resort this was. But I'm not particularly great with cartography. Heck, this could've been the ski resort I grew up skiing, and I probably would've dropped the ball.

As for what resort this is, I'll let you discover that for yourself -- I'm not in the business of spoiling surprises (hint: it's on the East Coast).

Niehues, after years of being the ski resort mapmaker, has since stepped away from the spotlight while passing the torch (or brush?) to his protege, Rad Smith. In the intervening years, several resorts, including Aspen Mountain and Keystone Ski Resort, have tasked Smith with creating maps for their new terrain expansions.

In a world of non-stop screentime, the work of Smith and Niehues is a breath of fresh air, walking reminders that some things just feel better when you hold them in your hands.

Here's a video explaining Smith's recent work for Aspen Mountain.

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