72-year-old Niehues has perfected by painting between one and two dozen mountains every year for the past 30 years. Since 1988, James Niehues has hand-painted 255 trail maps for 175 ski mountains all over the world.
“Absolutely there’s no science!
Niehues takes a small plane and photographs the mountain, starting thousands of feet above the summit and then slowly circling downward. Finally, the painting begins. A large mountain–like Breckenridge Resort in Colorado, which has a five peaks, 187 trails, and 34 lifts–usually takes him three weeks. After all, Niehues individually paints every single tree.
In an age where everyone has a GPS in their pocket, these maps aren’t as necessary for getting around on the mountain anymore. But for ski resorts, the trail map image remains their most powerful branding tool, one that can capture the natural splendor of their mountain.