ZeroSixZero is a company founded by expedition mapmaker, Anthony Goddard. Specializing in crafting live tracking maps for expeditions and adventurers, the maps narrate epic journeys in real-time. ZeroSixZero works with all types of adventurers, from weekend half-marathon runners to professional ultra-endurance athletes. Past maps have tracked ocean rowers, polar explorers, sailors, paddleboarders, and even a skateboarder crossing Australia.

"I started ZeroSixZero after realizing how many people were doing incredible things around the world which were difficult to communicate without an effective map, such as rowing an ocean, walking across a continent, and skiing to the South Pole,” said Anthony.

“It felt like these stories were so epic and these achievements were so incredible that it was really an injustice to see them let down by confusing or inaccurate maps or, even worse, by no maps at all. These stories are worth telling and ought to be told in a way that clearly shows just how impressive they are, using the best tools available. In the case of adventures and expeditions, I think words and pictures tell incredible stories, but it’s the map that can tie this together and really communicate the story."

Why ZeroSixZero chose Mapbox

"I was first drawn to Mapbox for the GL JS library and the incredible toolset it provides for building intuitive and fast maps," said Anthony. The flexibility of Mapbox allowed him to bring users’ stories to life with custom fonts, animated markers, and layers for scientific data. 

“GL JS really strikes the right balance by providing the primitives you need to get development done quickly, while also giving you enough low level access to integrate it effectively into your own interfaces. I also love the ability to make really quick changes and publish new styles in Studio.”

Anthony also loves the fast turnaround for creating maps. “Mapbox allows us to take ideas and quickly turn them into results on maps,” said Anthony. “The flexibility of using Studio for certain styling, for adding styling on the client side, adding additional sources and controlling things via Mapbox APIs really allows us to bring our users’ stories to life.”

“Whether it’s adding a custom font for a vector map, or a custom animated marker, adding layers for science data, or really going to town with custom markers, we love how flexible Mapbox tooling and services are.”

Science-driven expeditions: Telling the story of climate tipping points

Map: https://www.oceanscienceexpedition.com/ocean-science/tipping-points 

The Ocean Science expedition is a single-season crossing of the Northwest Passage, raising awareness of the 6 Planetary Tipping Points in the Arctic. ZeroSixZero created a storytelling map using Mapbox GL JS and animated datasets of sea ice extent to tell the story of the “climate tipping points” which are central to the scientific investigations being conducted by the expedition. 

“We combined vector maps with GL JS transitions to show things such as the ice changing, as well as animating vector datasets of sea ice extent and we used line animations and gradients to demonstrate the movement of warm water as it cools in the North Atlantic and returns south again. We were also able to add high resolution satellite images of this polar region to augment Mapbox’s impressive existing satellite imagery.”

Live from the ice: Real-time satellite imagery of ocean conditions

Map: https://www.oceanscienceexpedition.com/logbook 

Another map for the Ocean Science expedition, Logbook, provides detailed satellite imagery of ice conditions and expedition updates. “Our live map for the same expedition shows near real-time 250m resolution satellite imagery as an optional layer to show the ice conditions which are central to this expedition. We’re also overlaying images and videos directly from the expedition and soon, we’ll show additional science data directly on the map.”

River odyssey: Musician’s canoe journey down the Mississippi

Map: https://www.jwfrancis.com/

Musician JW Francis, originally from New York, is canoeing the Mississippi River this summer. The interactive expedition map by ZeroSixZero displays his route with high-resolution tracking data, transitioning from a highly stylized map overview to detailed Mapbox imagery at higher zooms

“JW was looking for a classic atlas style map, but also wanted satellite imagery detail so we put together a map which masked off the US and colored each state with pastel colors, and added a hand drawn marker of JW’s. As you zoom in on the map, we slowly fade to satellite imagery so followers can see the river and terrain. We’re able to very efficiently display a huge amount of tracking data from JW, who is recording his route at times with a <5 second resolution allowing people to see his exact path.”

Against the tide: Nelson Kohlbus’s daring Adriatic Sea swim

Map: https://z6z.co/swim-beyond/

Nelson Kohlbus is an incredible 17-year-old from Germany who had a goal to swim across the Adriatic Sea. Unfortunately, due to a bad storm, the attempt finished early, but he was able to swim approximately 170km. “We used a Mapbox satellite map for this to show the conditions, and overlaid live weather and wind conditions. Nelson used a phone in his support Kayak for tracking which meant viewers could see updates every few seconds, allowing them to really see what was going on in real-time.”

Treasure Map: A pirate’s journey from Lake Michigan to the Atlantic

Map: https://z6z.co/the-great-loop-project/

Peter Frank is a young American adventurer who has already amassed mind-blowing mileage across the country. After unicycling, backpacking, bikepacking, and canoeing massive distances, Peter is presently dressed as a pirate and navigating solo from Lake Michigan to the Atlantic Ocean in a canoe. “Peter’s pirate theme reminded me of Mapbox’s amazing Treasure map style, which we’re using for his map.”

A cyclist’s global challenge: Vedangi Kulkarni aims for speed record

Map: https://vedangi.info/rtw 

Vedangi Kulkarni is an Indian cyclist who, at the age of 20, set the record as the youngest woman and fastest Asian to cycle around the world. To say her attempts are off the beaten track would be quite an understatement. Now twenty-five years old, Vedangi is aiming to claim a new record as the fastest women to circumnavigate the world, a 29,000 km journey which she began in India in July and is now continuing across Mongolia in the heat of summer. This map is tracking her journey using Mapbox’s advanced features like globe projection and 3D terrain.

Want to stay up-to-date with Zero Six Zero maps? Check out their website and follow them on X and Instagram.

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