I was just in northern Italy doing some field work and I found myself thinking about mountainous terrains/life/maps. Many regional maps I've seen have great mountains depicting ranges etc., but don't capture the detail I was seeing in some of the topo/trail maps I was looking at.

The challenge is to convey topography in detail via contours, color scales, shading, or something never been done before.

I guess I'd be surprised if something similar hasn't been done yet, after all...we all love mountains!

e.g.