Discovery Map Mountain Living Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride Travel Fun Trip Planning: Discovery Map Guest DJ Day James Nieheus KOTO mapmaking ski maps Telluride Ski Resort Telluride Ski Resort history trail maps
by maribeth
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Ski Map Fun and Telluride Ski Legends on KOTO
James Nieheus in Front of His Painting of Alta
Map Painting
Even in today’s high-tech world, ski maps remain prized souvenirs from any ski vacation and many die-hard snowsports aficionados boast collections of them that they keep at home amid other treasured momentos. Whether drawn and painted by hand or computer generated, virtually all ski resorts also reproduce the paper maps digitally, making it possible to check out your favorite mountain or dream getaway with the click of a mouse. But have you ever thought about what goes into the map-making process? Some really cool information gathering and artistic interpretation, that’s what.
Telluride Map Painting
Learn all about it on my next Travel Fun, my half hour radio show on travel at KOTO, Telluride, Colorado’s beloved community radio station. Tune in locally or at KOTO.org at 6:30pm MST on Thursday, February 20, to listen to my interview with mapmaker, James Niehues. Referred to as the “Rembrandt of the Ski Trails,” by the New York Times, Jim has created ski maps for some 350 renowned ski resorts around the world, including Telluride. (If you look closely at T-ride’s trail map, you can locate his signature.) Jim will be talking about how he does it from start to finish, a story that’s sure to give you new appreciation for ski maps in general. He’ll put a little more visual into the interview by sharing about his recently published book, The Man Behind the Maps: Legendary Ski Artist James Niehues, a must-have coffee table book that features two hundred of his hand-painted ski resort trail maps.
James with His New Book
I actually posted a story on Jim last year at Discovery Map International’s Map Geek blog. Entitled James Niehues: Ski Map Maker Extraordinaire, you can check it out right now.
In December, also for Discovery Map, I wrote Ski Maps Bonanza, a story that highlights two very interesting websites where you can check out trail maps from resorts located all over the world. It’s a great resource for planning future ski trips or just cruising around the world virtually in quest of some of the coolest places to do turns.
A couple of years ago Discovery Map published Old School Cool: Ski Maps, another great piece for winter sports enthusiasts of all ability levels.
Oh Yeah!
And the fun does not stop there, speaking of Old School, you can hear all kinds of stories about the rich history of Telluride Ski Resort and skiing in general on KOTO’s Guest DJ Day that’s taking place Friday, February 21, from 9am to 5pm. It’s always a super fun day to kick off the radio station’s fundraising and this year promises to be extra sweet, since the theme is Telluride Ski Legends. You’ll be hearing from many of T-ride’s most illustrious snowsports enthusiasts, past and present, including Johnnie Stevens and Annie Vareille-Savath. Annie, for example, started working as a ski instructor at Telluride when the resort opened in 1972. She later was the ski school director in 1978 through 2001 and served as the longest running Telluride Ski School director ever. She’s still teaching skiing and serves as an excellent role model to us all! Bill Jensen, a recent inductee into the Ski Hall of Fame, and Partner and CEO of Telluride Ski and Golf will also be a guest. (Bill incidentally wrote praise and an industry perspective on James Niehues in the front part book.) There should be some great programming all day long with lots of schwag, including a special giveaway of Jim’s book. (If you donate $250. or more to KOTO you will be put in a drawing to receive this beautiful book, valued at $90.)
Annie Ripping It Up on Bushwacker Back in the 70s
Hope you’ll be able to tune in to my interview with Jim on Thursday, February 20 at 6:30pm MST and KOTO’s Guest DJ Day all day on Friday, February 21! You can easily listen in at KOTO.org.
Anyone that donates a minimum of $40. to KOTO on behalf of Travel Fun will be put into a drawing to win a two-night stay in a one-bedroom condo at beautiful Mountain Lodge Telluride. Valued at approximately $1,600., know that some blackout dates apply. It’s a heck of a value and the chances of winning are big because I rarely have more than 10-15 donors. You can call into the station to 970-728-4334 anytime (office) or on Friday from 9am to 5pm to 970-728-4333 (on air). Or, you may contact me directly. Know that pledges must be paid before being eligible to be entered into the drawing, which will close out by Thursday, March 5. Be sure to mention Travel Fun!
Thank you for supporting community radio! Have fun on the snow!
Mountain Lodge Telluride
Colorado Discovery Map Mountain Living Telluride Writing & Books: Colorado Discovery Map mapmaking raclette research Skiing & Snowboarding Telluride tourist maps Travel
by maribeth
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Discovery Map Is Coming to Telluride
Me with Peter Hans and Laura Potter from Discovery Map
I love being a travel writer and sometimes I really love being a travel writer. As much as I like to write, the sitting on my butt part (whether in a desk chair or on my couch) can be rough. (Yes, I do stand sometimes but I don’t have a stand up desk per se.)
So often the travel writing part I like the most is the research phase. That aspect of my job is even better when it involves lots of good connecting with people, great skiing and memorable food. Such was the case this winter when Discovery Map International came to Telluride to carry out an important phase of their map-making process. Yes, they came to Telluride because as of next fall, there will be a Telluride Discovery Map added to their community of over 150 maps within the United States and beyond.
Loving Raclette with Laura and My Boyfriend Steve
I’m happy to be involved in writing web content for this dynamic company. Read Fun Times in Map Making, a Map Geek story I wrote for them, to find out more of the back story that goes into the Discovery Map process and most especially how it all went down in Telluride.
Brian Lewis of Discovery Map Telluride
Discovery Map New England Travel Writing & Books: Discovery Map franchises mapmaking Stowe tourist maps Travel Vermont Waitsfield
by maribeth
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Discovering Discovery Map
The Evolution of a Discovery Map
I hope you’ve had a chance to read my story Touring Country Stores in Stowe, Vermont with Mom. I think the photos are pretty nice, too. I give most of the credit to the subject matter–everywhere you turn there’s another photogenic scene in this endearing New England state.
Actually my main reason for heading up to northern Vermont was to meet the folks at Discovery Map. You can tell from my Touring Country Stores story, however, that mom and I were a bit sidetracked. Oops! Shopping and touring can do that to you, especially when it involves mothers and daughters in Vermont country stores.
Discovery Map
But just about forty minutes south of Stowe, on our drive home, we pulled into Waitsfield, Vermont, a charming town in the heart of the Green Mountains that serves as home to Discovery Map International. Whether the name is familiar to you or not, I’m sure you would recognize the cheery, hand-drawn maps that you pick up in travel destinations all over the U.S. You know–the colorful ones full of whimsy that highlight restaurants, shops, places of lodging, cultural sites and a flourish of other attractions?
A Veritable Library of Discovery Maps
Checking Out a Map
Looking in the Map Drawers
People might never imagine that most aspects of the production of these maps take place in a sleepy little town in rural Vermont. Yay! Their origins are as heartfelt and homespun as the maps themselves. With well more than a hundred maps throughout the country and beyond, it’s hard to believe that they are all born here. But it’s true and I hope you will enjoy meeting the team behind them through the photos in this post.
Since I started to write content for Discovery Map’s website, I’ve had a lot of email contact with Susan Klein, the oh-so efficient Operations Administrator who is clearly a multitasker extraordinaire. So, of course, I wanted to put a face to a name, even if it was just a brief encounter.
