James Niehues stepping away from creating trail maps

James Niehues has spent the last 26 years painting trail maps used by ski resorts around the world. Photo: James Niehues

LOVELAND, Colo. — James Niehues — a ski resort trail map artist that has drawn for Deer Valley and Park City Mountain — announced this week that he is stepping away from his craft.

Niehues has painted nearly 300 maps. In 2010, the Denver Post called him the “Norman Rockwell of ski resorts.”

In addition to Deer Valley and PCMR, Niehues has painted for Utah Olympic Park, The Cottonwood Canyons, The Canyons, Solitude, Ski Utah, Brighton, and Alta.

He said he will now focus on other projects, like the American Landscape Project, which celebrates the National Parks.

With the news, Niehues said for the first time ever he will be releasing original paintings and sketches for sale to the public.

On October 19, he will release a first set of 10 original resort maps, including Brighton, Mount Hood Ski Bowl, Northstar, Killington Pico, Okemo, and Heavenly. Sign up for details here.

“I have always enjoyed the challenge of fitting an entire mountain on a single page. Mountains are wonderful puzzles, and I knew if I painted with the right amount of detail, they would last. A good design is relevant for a few years, maybe even a decade. But a well-made map is used for generations. As I retire from painting ski maps, I am thrilled to know hundreds of my maps are still used by skiers and snowboarders, including my earliest work from the 1980s,” Niehues said in a press release.

Full list of ski resorts that Niehues has painted: