What is it with maps and design entrepreneurship? Two weeks ago we spotted a firm making their bones with digitally fabricated bathymetric maps, and last week we looked at a woman creating objects emblazoned with maps related to the end users' personal experiences. Now we've come across a firm doing a little of both.

Nicetrails is the name of the company, and their target market is outdoorsfolk who tackle their hikes with GPS trackers. After completing your journey, you upload the resultant GPX file that logged your progress onto Nicetrails' website. 

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Then they 3D print, in color, the precise area that you climbed, adding a red line that represents your footsteps. Two weeks later you've got a cool little "trophy" of your trip.

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I have no idea how profitable it is, but it's a pretty brilliant use of 3D printing, emphasis on the "3D." Indeed, it was frustration with 2D that led to the idea. Writes Bernat Cuní, the designer who conceived of it,

One day, back from climbing the Mt.Rainier I was re-visiting the trail with my phone and while I was so proud and happy of the hike, I felt that that line on a flat map didn't quite represented the awesomeness of the day spent conquering the top.

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I really wanted to view my track in 3D, to see the crests and valleys that I crossed. So, back on my laptop, I searched around the web to find a way to upload the track to a trails sharing site, and export it as a filetype readable in Google Earth.

Great! Now I was seeing my route in 3D. Then, using some open source map data, and CAD modelling skills I managed to build a digital mountain and 3D printed it, and it looked amazing.

Cuní then launched Nicetrails along with Oscar Ardaiz, who's going for a PhD in Computer Science, so I'm guessing he's the Wozniak of the outfit.

You can check out a demo of how the uploading process works here.