Erik Krause, an early pioneer of digitally stitched panoramic photography, just published a fantastic gigapixel panorama from the Swiss Alps. Not only is it an enormous image — he also shot it handheld, without a tripod, and at 3 different focal lengths, and from four different perspectives (in order to avoid the big cross in the middle of the summit) and he got them all to fit together. An appropriate analogy for you non-photographers out there – you can compare this feat to having 10 people show up at your house uninvited, and with only the leftovers from your fridge and a single frying pan, you cook a 5-course gourmet meal for them. Or something like that 
Be sure to click “fullscreen”!
Sidelhorn (2764m) gigapixel version in Switzerland
You can check out more gigapixel panoramas if you’re interested.
Update: You can read another post about this panorama in German, by Thomas Bredenfield.
Stéphane Meurisse says:
very beautiful ! Swiss landscapes are beautiful.
December 19, 2009, 8:28 amI love the mountains.