The bottom line is the rising cost of printing on waterproof material.

If we reprinted the map today on waterproof paper, we would have to increase the price of the map from $10.95 to $14.95. Both the cost of the waterproof material and the cost of printing on this material has gone up.

In the past, what we did to keep the cost down as much as possible is we bought the waterproof paper directly in bulk from the manufacturer in the Eastern USA, paid for shipping it here, warehoused it ourselves, then shipped a portion of it to our printer each time we reprinted a map.

The waterproof material is very difficult for the printer to print on because the static electricity causes it to stick together going through the press, so the printer is constantly stopping the press, pulling out the offending sheets and cleaning the press. Because of this wastage, our print runs had to be at least three times larger than they would normally be, to absorb the increased printing cost over more maps. Then we had to store these additional maps in a larger warehouse and, although we had to pay the printer for them right away, we had to wait several years longer to recoup our money when we sold them.

The bottom line is that we needed deep pockets to finance that many maps for that long.

All that was workable until visitor numbers to the parks dropped after 9-11, and consequently, our sales. The majority (about 80 percent) of our maps are sold to national park visitors, so, until visitor numbers return to pre-9-11 levels, it is unlikely we will have the cash flow that will allow us to finance the printing of the maps on waterproof paper.

A related consideration is that many visitors to the national parks are short-stay, meaning they are there three or less days. For them, price point is a consideration. They will invest $8.95 in a (paper) map for a couple of days or a couple of hikes, but are not as likely to spend $14.95 on a (waterproof) map for that amount of time.

For those of you who love the durability of the waterproof maps, we suggest you put your paper map in a plastic sleeve or laminate your map. If it is laminated with a light-weight laminate, it can be re-folded. Map Town in Calgary www.maptown.com(phone (403) 266-2241) is one place that can do the job.

Your feedback and suggestions on this matter are welcome. Please contact us at maps@gemtrek.com