Kathmandu creates competition for travellers to chart major walking trails for Google Maps
Travel retailer Kathmandu has collaborated with Go Pro and Google Maps to create a competition for Australians and New Zealanders to map three major walking tracks.
The announcement:
Kathmandu launches world first mapping expedition
Travel and adventure brand Kathmandu has announced a series of world-first expeditions that will map three major walking trails around the globe for Street View on Google Maps. The World View project will use bespoke technology pairing GoPro’s Fusion camera mounted on Kathmandu’s custom designed, one-of-a-kind backpack to enable adventurers to capture 360-degree footage of each trail.
“At Kathmandu, we believe travel and adventure is the ultimate education,” says Kathmandu GM Marketing, Paul Stern. “Through our product engineering and travel expertise, we want to give travellers the confidence and opportunities to discover the world”
“The mapping of these walking trails for World View will enable people to uncover new adventures around the globe, and additionally provide useful insights for those planning their next trek.”
Australians and Kiwis will have the opportunity of a lifetime to be part these expeditions via the World View competition where Kathmandu will be recruiting three ‘Kathmandu Trailblazers’ to be part of the mapping teams who will visit and document the uncharted trails. The series of world-first expeditions are slated to begin from December 2019 when the details of the trails will begin to be revealed.
Adventure travel and ecotourism company World Expeditions will help to facilitate the expeditions, while GoPro have been engaged as a technical partner.
“Our innovative heritage has seen as pioneering new trails and destinations in the adventure travel space for 45 years. We thrive on providing travellers with new ways to see and
experience the world’s greatest wilderness regions so naturally we’re delighted to be collaborating on the World View project to use technology to share the beauty of some of the world’s most iconic walking trails. I hope it inspires people to get out there and see it for themselves,” says World Expeditions CEO, Sue Badyari.In a statement from GoPro: “GoPro frees people to celebrate the moment, inspiring others to do the same. From cameras, apps and accessories, everything we do is geared to help you capture life as you live it, share the experience and pass on the stoke. We believe that sharing our experiences makes them more meaningful and way more fun.
“Capturing one-of-a kind content using GoPro’s Fusion camera, the Kathmandu World View project grants unprecedented access to major trails around the world on Google Street View utilizing the TrailBlazer app technology.”
Source: Keep Left press release
