Month: July 2008

This is the first of 10 contests to be run by the previous winner, Karel.

With the conclusion of contest #40, we will be starting the leaderboard over for the next set of 10. I figure I’d take this opportunity to do some housekeeping

• I’ve put up a page where you can see all the past leaderboards. All the correct answers should still be in the comments, so everything should be independently verifiable. I do occasionally make mistakes as I do everything by hand. More people are playing now, so there is greater opportunity for error.
• Karel, the winner of this set, has been extended the offer to pick the places for contests 41-50. I hope that by having the winners pick the next set it will a) give others a chance to win, and b) make putting up new contests go faster. If you don’t know, I’m currently traveling around the world, so I’m often away from internet access for days at a time.
• If you know any other geography nerd friends, please pass the link along. The more the merrier.
• If you get the answer to a particular hard contest, feel free to tell everyone how you figured it out in the answer post. I’m curious as to the process people use. Even when I think I’m going to stump people, more than I expect always come through.
• If you’ve been to one of the places that is a contest, feel free to link to photos in your answer or do a short write up. I’d put it in the contest answer. I currently just use Creative Commons images from Flickr.
• There may be overlap in contests in the future. Most people answer within three days if they answer at all. I often can’t get the answer up that quick because I’m gone. If you see another contest go up before the previous one has been answered, consider them both to the open until the answer is posted.
• Install the latest version of Google Earth if you haven’t. It is really good.

The answer to #40 is the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in Washington State. It is the fourth largest hydroelectric dam in the world and the largest in the United States. It is taller than the Great Pyramid at its highest point and over a mile wide. I don’t know why, but all the dams I visit never look as big as the numbers make them out to be. I think it is because they look small in their setting which is usually much larger than the dam itself.

Getting this one right:

• Ewen
• PK
• Willem
• ej
• Devin
• Skip (Austin, TX)
• Andy McConnell
• Karel
• ACG

Image by A Boy And His Bike

Image by Rgusick