Explore the intersection of Omingmak (“musk ox”) Street and Tigiganiak (“fox”) Road
Ski and snow resorts across the globe You can also view some of the world’s best runs right on Google Maps before you get there. Whether you’re looking to discover a piste you’ve never tried before, or just want to take in some winter wonderland scenery, we’ve added Street View imagery for resorts across Europe (including runs in Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Italy and Spain), Canada (including runs in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario) and the U.S. (including runs in Utah and Michigan).
For example, take a look at Sölden, a popular ski resort in the Ötztal valley of Tyrol, Austria. It’s not just tourists who flock there every year, but fans of professional skiing—Sölden regularly hosts the giant slalom competition as part of the Alpine World Cup in late October.
You can also visit Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah. With 19 chairlifts, 4,000 acres of skiable terrain and an average of 355 inches of snow each winter, Canyons is the largest ski and snowboard terrain park in the state.
Visit the to see some of our favorite images of the Arctic and resorts available on Google Maps. As winter sets in, we encourage you to experience it all from the comfort (and warmth) of your couch—or check it out online, then dig out your thermal underwear and snow boots to hit the slopes!
Posted by Ulf Spitzer, Program Manager, Google Street View
Inspired to do something to help, Winston set out on a 5,000-mile trek across Southeast Asia to raise money and awareness for the ICSF—a mission he dubbed Smile Trek. Armed with sturdy boots, a 20-pound vest carrying essentials and an Android phone with Google Maps, Winston set off on his mission in October 2011. In the last year, he has walked (yes, walked!) through Brunei, China, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Along the way he’s met countless individuals who have contributed to his cause, whether it was a place to stay, a hot meal or a monetary donation on his website.
Trekking along: Winston, standing in front of a durian fruit stand near Sematan, the westernmost town of Malaysian Borneo
Out on the road, Winston’s Android phone and Google Maps became “the hub” of his entire operation. He used Google Maps to find accurate and easy-to-use walking directions everywhere he went, whether it was through remote villages and farms, down tiny dirt roads, or across rice paddies and desolate sugar cane fields. “Walking directions in Google Maps were critical to my trek. The directions were accurate and efficient—it’s essential to take the shortest route when you’re walking 20-25 miles each day,” said Winston. “But the best part was being routed onto roads and trails through areas I otherwise never would have discovered with, say, driving directions, or even a physical map.”
View the complete map of Winston's journey on his site.
In addition to using Google Maps, Winston relied on many other Google products during his trek. He used Google Latitude to keep his family, friends and supporters informed of his whereabouts, and MyTracks to record his speed, distance and the places he visited. He also used Google Translate to communicate with locals, and in one case found it essential: when bit by a stray dog outside of Bangkok, he typed "I got bit by a dog, can someone take me to a hospital?" into his app. A taxi driver took him to the hospital, where he got 11 shots!
Today, after walking 5,000 miles in 408 days, Sgt. Fiore completes his journey, with more than $65,000 raised for ICSF. The money will help to fund more than 200 life-saving surgeries for children in Southeast Asia and other parts of the world. If you’d like to contribute to the International Children’s Surgery Fund and Winston Fiore’s effort, we encourage you to visit: http://smiletrek.org
Posted by Jennifer J. Chen, Product Manager, Google Maps
From towering above the clouds in Seattle to a celebration of rooftop art in Austria, below we find an art installation where visitors are encouraged to ascend to the top of a rooftop and travel a set of wooden bridges to see the city from a new perspective.
Bridges in the Sky, Linz, Austria
New 45° imagery available for 60 cities: Our collection of 45° imagery in Google Maps has also recently expanded to include 40 more U.S. cities and 20 more international cities, including Luxembourg and Romania for the first time. Below are some fantastic sites from Luxembourg and Switzerland.
Though one of the smallest countries in the world by size, this European Grand Duchy plays an important role in politics because it’s the site of several institutions and agencies of the European Union. Below is one of the administrative and conference buildings.
Settlements near the Swiss pre-alpine town of Thun can be dated back as far as Neolithic times around 2500 B.C. The city’s name derives from the Celtic term “Dunum” which translates to “fortified city.” Below is Thun Castle, which was erected by the Zaehringer dynasty around 1190 A.D. and which serves as the home of the district court of the Bernese Oberland until 2009.
Indoor Google Maps for Mall of America in Bloomington, MN (left)
and for Macy’s in New York, NY (right)
These accurate, easy-to-use indoor maps are available for a number of popular retail locations across the globe including many local malls and select Best Buy, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Harrod’s, Selfridges, John Lewis and other stores. With the help of your Android device, you can beeline it to the camcorder you’ve been eyeing for your dad, and then quickly make your way to that sweater you know your sister will love. For list of additional venue partners, including some in Belgium that just became available today, check out this list.
Indoor Google Maps for West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (left)
and for Nordstrom in Seattle, WA (right)
We hope these indoor maps make finding your way in and around retail stores easier, less stressful and more efficient this holiday season. To access them, simply update Google Maps on your Android by visiting Google Play on your phone or desktop. Happy holiday shopping!
Posted by Cedric Dupont, Product Manager, Google Maps
Dr. Elizabeth Madin from Macquarie University demonstrated how her team is using Google Earth to further her work in investigating coral reef landscapes; they integrate ecological theory and the high-resolution satellite imagery available in Google Earth to identify “grazing halos”, which may be able to tell us more about coral reef health.
The Australian Wildlife Conservancy also unveiled two Google Earth tours. The first tour flies through their 23 sanctuaries which cover more than 3 million hectares to bring to life their fight to save Australia’s unique wildlife from extinction. The second tour overlays AWC geospatial data on top of Google Earth to demonstrate the impact of their EcoFire Project in the Kimberleys over the last six years.
If you’re a nonprofit interested in learning more about the Google Earth Outreach program, check out our website. There you’ll find tutorials and a showcase of nonprofit success stories, and you can also apply for grants for Google Earth Pro, Google Maps Engine, Google Maps API for Business, and Google Maps Coordinate.
We hope that by bringing this program to Australia and New Zealand, many more organisations will be able to tell powerful visual stories about the important work they do, to both help them raise awareness and funds and further their scientific goals.
Posted by Raleigh Seamster, Program Manager for Google Earth Outreach
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