The department of geoinformation of the canton of Zurich/Switzerland has carried out a high-resolution laser scanning (LIDAR) last year over the entire canton of Zurich. The extensive data (8 pts / m2) have now been evaluated, and a digital surface (DSM) and terrain model (DTM) created (dot grid of 50 cm and horizonal and vertical accuracies of 20 cm, resp. 10 cm. This is the first time high-resolution elevation data is widely available for the entire canton of Zurich. In the past, lidar data have been collected only for small-scale projects. As a novelty, the department has decided to provide the lidar data and its derived products, i.e. DTM and DSM, as open data to the public. With this decision new standards are set not only in terms of accuracy and scope, but also in the usage as open government data. The lidar data can provide valuable support for example in the areas of infrastructure, urban planning, regional planning, natural hazard assessment, forestry, environment, energy, line survey, solar potential analysis, surveying, archeology, agriculture, water or noise. Due to the planned repetition cycle of four years even time series and monitoring projects are possible. Therefore it is not surprising, that since the opening as open data, many interesting applications using this data have been created. The presentation will show the high-resolution data and its possible usage for terrain-visualizations. A selection of the most appealing visualizations will be demonstrated, e.g. an Oculus Rift version enabling the user to navigate through virtual reality. It will further give an insight in the challenge of opening up the LIDAR?data for the public, i.e. setting up an open-data strategy in the cantonal administration of Zurich.