4'' Black Canyon of the Gunnison, CO, WSF

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is a very steep-sided canyon in the rugged Western half of Colorado. The first time you see it, you can barely believe it--the walls are so steep, it looks as if they should collapse any moment. It's so steep and deep that sunlight has difficulty making it all the way to the bottom, so the canyon looks black simply because of the deep shadows. The Gunnison River is still rapidly eroding the canyon, and its surface drops up to 240' per mile in the middle of the canyon. Rock climbing and kayaking in the gorge are for experts only, and whitewater rafting is too dangerous to be allowed. Our smallest available model is still 1:57200 scale, which is enough to reveal all the gulches, draws, and steep-sided eroded valleys running into the river, some 2000' below. While the Grand Canyon exceeds in magnitude, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison exceeds in incomparable slope. Put this on your desk and admire its rare combination of depth and steepness.

If you've been one of the lucky ones to hike the rim of the canyon, you'll find many familiar views as your eye flies over the terrain. The model starts just west of the Nation Park Service's visitor center and Gunnison Point and contains the entire South Rim Road, including Pulpit Rock Overlook, Cross Fissures View, Rock Point, Devils Lookout, Chasm View, Painted Wall View, Cedar Point, Dragon Point, Sunset View, High Point, and West beyond Warner Point. On the North rim, the map includes Island Peaks, Big Island View, Long Draw, Balanced Rock View, The Narrows View, Grizzly Gulch, the North Rim Campground, all of North Vista Trail up to the peak, and Serpent Point.

Model scale is 1:57200
Model covers an area approximately 3.6 by 3.6 miles
Altitudes covered: 5567' to 8578'
There is never any vertical exaggeration in TinyMtn models.

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TinyMtn models are most affordable in the "White Strong and Flexible" and "Sandstone" materials. This model is in "White Strong and Flexible." When you receive the model, there may still be Nylon dust on it from the printing process. Use either an airbrush, canned dust blower, or a soft old toothbrush to remove this dust. Do not get the "White Strong and Flexible" material wet, and don't prime it or use any oil-based paints on it. You can safely seal it with Polycrylic or a similar water-based clear spray sealant. Read more about this popular material here.

The "Frosted Detail" material will show more detail, but is semi-transparent and has an uneven surface texture when unpainted (due to the orientation of the model when Shapeways prints it). It may show up feeling a little greasy and with small crystals in crevasses. Clean those off by soaking the model in warm (but not hot) soapy water and brushing with an old toothbrush. To get the surface to an even matte finish, spray with a few light coats of sandable primer (white automotive primer works), and then do a baking soda grit-blast.

These models have been optimized for the above materials, and are not offered in other materials for strength or cost reasons. If you need one in another material, please contact us and we'll try to accommodate your request.

(C) 2013 TinyMtn (TM)
Model created using GDAL, NetPBM, Gmsh, Carve, MeshLab, and other custom software
Source of digital elevation data: U.S. Geological Survey
The USGS home page is https://www.usgs.gov/