SINGAPORE (Team Geared Up) - Google have announced the addition of global contours to their free mapping service. Very nice indeed, especially when combined with the satellite images. The above screenshor is of Lugnaquilla in Wicklow, Ireland.

Now this is becoming a serious tool to plot adventure points of interest on. Mountain names would be spectacular.

How do you get it? Go to maps.google.com, Click [Terrain], Zoom in close enough!

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-Robin-

LONDON, UK (Team Geared Up) - Short & sweet post to say Google Maps have turned on Terrain View. Wow.

Click the little [Terrain] button beside Satview on the map to access it.

Google, you’re the gift that just keeps giving!

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-Robin

LONDON, UK (Team Geared Up) - Exploring a maps & aerial photos of an area you’re travelling to is a key part of any adventure travel. Google maps was always too limited to just Western Europe & USA. No longer! Here’s the full list of 54 new countries in pretty good resolution:

Afghanistan, Aruba, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Bermuda, Brunei Darussalam, Bhutan, Bolivia, Cambodia, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Mexico, Myanmar (Burma), Mongolia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Timor-Leste, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen

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-Robin-

LONDON, UK (Team Geared Up) - Google Maps have just added line distance. Could this be the start of the end for Gmaps Pedometer?

Google Write:

As many of you have discovered, the line tool in Google Maps is a great way to create maps of your bike routes and hiking trails. But something has been missing: After plotting out a hike in Yosemite, how do you know whether it’s going to be a 2-hour hike or a 2-day hike? You can’t tell how long the trail is!

To try it, go to maps.google.com MyMaps and draw with the line tool.

My only gripe is it appears to be stuck in miles, and no kilometres. Hello Google, Europe do exist too!

-Robin-

LONDON, UK (Team Geared Up) - TGU Reader Alan left a comment alerting us to his RunIreland.com Event Map. Alan has done a Google Maps mash-up with all the upcoming running events being held in Ireland marked on a big map.

RunIreland.com is a fantastic listings resource, you can even map Irish Running Clubs to see which is closest to you. Good job Alan!

-Robin-