Worst Trail Maps

BeefyBoy50 · May 21, 2015

I love looking at trail maps in my spare time. Some of them (almost always drawn by James Niehues) are fantastic- they really replicate the actual look and feel of the mountains. These trail maps are almost artwork in how beautifully they are drawn.

Other trail maps are painful to look at and provide little clue as to how the mountain is actually laid out. I'm thinking in particular of the Breckenridge and (even worse) Copper Mountain trail maps. I wish we could tell these mountains to commission some artist to design a real map for them.

What do you guys think are the worst-looking maps?

ironhippy · May 21, 2015

Poley Mountain in Southern New Brunswick.

Poley-Mountain-Ski-Trail-Map.mediumthumb.pdf.png

Here's the link to their PDF http://www.poleymountain.com/mounta...nload/5_fda9d6d0ad8bfe9ea847978b73b9a5e5.html

ss20 · May 21, 2015

Woodbury here in CT

Domeskier · May 21, 2015

I like this one from 1969 because they rate the relative difficulty of the base lodge and the skating rink - and the base lodge wins:

freeski · May 21, 2015

I like the old maps with topo lines. I'd like to see more non-Niehues maps. His are nice, but all the same. He does capture the layout of the mountain pretty well though (not easy to do).

skiNEwhere · May 21, 2015

There is some trail map I saw a while back that literally looked like someone drew it freehand on an 8.5 and 11 and uploaded it. Can't remember where though.

Small ski areas get a free pass in my book though to have bad trail maps. There's no need to spend the time and money when the majority of skiers are locals. As far as big ski areas, I always thought this one, from 1986, was kind of confusing. Not really the map itself, but the mountain layout just appears really random.

ss20 · May 21, 2015

Those old Killington topo maps from the 80s give me headaches!

VTKilarney · May 22, 2015

I just took at look at James Niehues' gallery on his website. You are correct. They all look the same. Great work, but if you've seen one you've seen them all.

x10003q · May 22, 2015

Domeskier said:
I like this one from 1969 because they rate the relative difficulty of the base lodge and the skating rink - and the base lodge wins:

This map is awesome and has completely mislabeled the trail ratings.

dlague · May 22, 2015

skiNEwhere said:
There is some trail map I saw a while back that literally looked like someone drew it freehand on an 8.5 and 11 and uploaded it. Can't remember where though.

Small ski areas get a free pass in my book though to have bad trail maps. There's no need to spend the time and money when the majority of skiers are locals. As far as big ski areas, I always thought this one, from 1986, was kind of confusing. Not really the map itself, but the mountain layout just appears really random.

Looks like a rats nest in the middle!

skiMEbike · May 22, 2015

I have to say I don't particularly like the map from my home mountain of Sugarloaf....Fortunately, I hardly ever look at the thing, but I imagine its has to be a bit cumbersome for someone who does not know the mountain. My gripe with the map is the amount of "space" on the map devoted to Bracket Basin & West Mountain. Looking at the page layout, you have about 2/3 of the map devoted to those sections & the rest (& most important part of the mountain) crammed into about 1/3 of the map.

http://www.sugarloaf.com/Documents/Sugarloaf/SUG_1415_TrailMap_R2b.pdf

deadheadskier · May 22, 2015

agreed

wish they'd use a Vico map for their online version as well

xwhaler · May 22, 2015

Middlebury Snow Bowl:
-Map blurry and hard to read
-Makes the place seem really small. There are a ton of off map glades that have the ski area ski much bigger than its vertical would suggest.
Trail map doing Middlebury no favors in attracting 1st timers IMHO

xwhaler · May 22, 2015

Black Mtn of ME
Lots of Angry Beaver glades that have trail signs that haven;t yet made it onto the official map. I don't think they are "secret stashes" as much as BMOM just hasn't highlighted them yet.
Place is a gem for low/mid angle tree skiing at a great price and some freshinng to the trail map would help.

ceo · May 22, 2015

The problem with Sugarloaf's is that the labels make it really hard to see how the trails connect with each other. A lot of Niehues's maps have this problem; Sugarloaf in particular is a really trail-dense resort and would probably benefit from a more schematic trail map format.

skiNEwhere · May 22, 2015

Am I the only one who used to draw trail maps as a kid? If so, I'll nominate mine as the worst.

Not Sure · May 22, 2015

skiNEwhere said:
Am I the only one who used to draw trail maps as a kid? If so, I'll nominate mine as the worst.

I did too ....mine were'nt that bad though .

skiNEwhere · May 22, 2015

Siliconebobsquarepants said:
I did too ....mine were'nt that bad though .

Well look at Mr. Niehues over here.

Mind were drawn in pencil. That was when there was an "expansion" I could just erase and create a new trail. Crude, but got the "job" done

Not Sure · May 22, 2015

skiNEwhere said:
Well look at Mr. Niehues over here.

Mind were drawn in pencil. That was when there was an "expansion" I could just erase and create a new trail. Crude, but got the "job" done

LOL....Always used a Pen .....Killington edition , did'nt save any trail maps

BenedictGomez · May 23, 2015

Mad River Glen

Tried to use this incomprehensible thing the first time I visited this year, and I basically gave up and just "went skiing" so to speak.

Worst Trail Maps

New member

Member

Well-known member

Well-known member

New member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Active member

New member

Moderator

Active member

Active member

Active member

Active member

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Similar threads