Denver and the Colorado Rockies, as you’ve never seen them before

The Atlantic ^ | 18 Dec, 2015 | ROBINSON MEYER

[MtnClimber]

WorldView-3 is one of the most advanced privately owned Earth-observing satellites in use. It's owned and operated by DigitalGlobe, a corporation that supplies imagery to the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and Google Maps. If you've seen an orbital view of the planet that showed streets and buildings, it's likely you were looking at an image captured by WorldView-3 or another DigitalGlobe satellite. On that late summer day, though, WorldView-3 followed an unusual path. In the late morning, as it passed over the Pacific, it turned back and looked at the continent to the east. Gazing over Los Angeles; the Mojave desert; the Grand Canyon; and the southern tip of Utah, it captured an image of Colorado.

[MtnClimber]

In case you want to do a Colorado Ping.

[SaxxonWoods]

Nice, I recognize some areas. I’m on the western slope.

[Red Boots]

Me, too! the Red Lady front and center!

[MtnClimber]

I can see plenty I recognize. I live off the photo by a few miles from the top-left side.

[KC Burke]

Did about 60 flights one year that were going over the rockies and the sierra nevada ranges. They were great as I am pretty good at determining geographic landmarks. I liked Zion from the air.

[IronJack]

I used to live in Montrose, only a few miles from the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. If there is a place on earth more beautiful than the San Juans, I want to be buried there.

[mountn man]

I did a backpacking trip in the Uncompahgre Wilderness about 15 years ago.

Truly beautiful area.

[IronJack]

Used to hike Dallas Divide often. Skiied Telluride, Crusty Butt, Purgatory, and my personal favorite, a little resort on the Grand Mesa called Powderhorn. And the scenery between Ouray and Telluride, up around the Yankee Basin, is something right out of a travelogue. I actually took my son and a friend on a 4WD trip over Imogene Pass. In a Ford Expedition.

Not for the faint of heart.

[Rodamala]

bookmark for later

[Rodamala]

I was trying to trace my way to Bailey, but I guess that’s off the map too.

[Twotone]

Have you seen Lars Leber’s photography? Gorgeous shots around the Garden of the Gods. We lived in Co. Springs when I was very young...

http://larsleber.net/f58297464

[Hot Tabasco]

Here's an interesting comment from the creator of the site's pictures:

These are beautiful and useful images. But it is important to remember that these Earth pictures are not only used for humanitarianism and art, but for intelligence-gathering and war. Such themes have long been intertwined when it comes to pictures of our common home. The first photograph of Earth from space, after all, was taken of a region not far from Colorado and it was captured by a re-purposed V-2 missile.

[MtnClimber]

I have been climbing in the San Juans. Beautiful area.

[george76]

Colorado Ping ( Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)

[MileHi]

Cool. Thanks

[Tijeras_Slim]

1946, launched from White Sands NM.

[george76]

You are welcome.

[GSWarrior]

I used to live in De Beque. Love maps and orienteering.

[apostoli]

Have you had the pleasure of seeing the ‘real’ Rockies just outside of Calgary? Those are mountains, not the molehills of CO.