Google Street View: See Global Ski Resorts Before Checking In

Google Street View images now include photos from the world's most spectacular ski resorts so you can get glimpses of what's there before you arrive.

Google Street View is making it easier for avid skiers to prepare for the world's greatest ski slopes before they ever leave home through a new collection of images which users can view online.

The new images include more than 90 ski and snow resorts around the world, adding to dozens that were already available using Street View, Ulf Spitzer, the program manager for Google Street View, wrote in a Nov. 28 post on the Google Official Blog.

"Whether you're looking to discover a [ski run] 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)," wrote Spitzer. "For example, take a look at Solden, a popular ski resort in the Otztal valley of Tyrol, Austria. It's not just tourists who flock there every year, but fans of professional skiing—Solden regularly hosts the giant slalom competition as part of the Alpine World Cup in late October.”

Also viewable are images of Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah, where there are 19 chairlifts, 4,000 acres of skiable terrain and an average of 355 inches of snow each winter, according to Spitzer's post.

In addition, added to Street View is an expanded and more detailed collection of images from Canada's Arctic, where a project began in August to capture photographs of Cambridge Bay in Canada's far north, according to Spitzer. "Starting today, you can virtually experience the Canadian Arctic through new panoramic Street View images of Cambridge Bay and detailed maps created with the help of local community members," he wrote.

"To get a sense of what it's like to live up in the north, you can walk down Omingmak Street, make your way across the bridge (where locals fish for Arctic Char) and head out to the Old Stone Church," wrote Spitzer. "Check out some Arctic souvenirs in the Arctic Closet, or visit the Ice Hockey and Curling Arena—it’s uninsulated and freezes over once they flood it in the winter! You can also learn more about Inuit history and culture at the Kitikmeot Heritage Society and the Arctic Coast Visitors Centre."

For online viewers, the new images of ski resorts and the Canadian Arctic provide the opportunity to explore new horizons without leaving home, wrote Spitzer.

In October, Google Street View began another ambitious project—assembling images of the Grand Canyon and its trails and natural wonders. The Street View team began the project using a special Trekker—a wearable backpack with a camera system on top—to traverse the Grand Canyon and capture 360-degree images of the terrain. The Trekker camera backpack is controlled  by its operator using an Android phone as it automatically gathers photos as the operator walks.

Earlier in October, Google updated the Street View images that can be seen in Google Maps along more than 250,000 miles of roads around the world, while also doubling the size of its Street View image collection overall. It was the largest one-time Street View image update ever by the company.

Those new image collections now include detailed photographs of places such as Catherine Palace and Ferapontov Monastery in Russia, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Taroko Gorge in Taiwan, Stanley Park in Vancouver, Canada, and of Singapore's urban jungle, Fort Canning Park.

In September, Street View added its first-ever underwater panoramic images, bringing in colorful and beautiful photographs of underwater reefs in Australia, Hawaii and the Philippines. The images came from the Catlin Seaview Survey, which is conducting scientific expeditions to the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea in Australia.