Reading the contour.

Swiss topographic maps are among the most admired in the world. Contour lines, rock hatching, and relief shading make a three-dimensional landscape legible on a flat sheet of paper.

A contour line follows one simple rule: every point on it shares the same elevation. Read closely, spacing becomes slope, bends become ridges and gullies, and a cluster of tight rings becomes a summit you can almost feel in your legs.

This note is a small exercise in looking. A convincing system can just as well describe a place that does not exist.