I just read about the newest part of the Google Maps API - Elevation. I immediately stole their demo application and put the Google Maps Elevation API to practical use alongside a stop motion animation video I made using Google Street View. You can see both over here.
You have to scroll down on the page but the video is a tour through my hometown made using Google Street View and Picasa. The map under it shows the elevation changes as you travel the same route. The best thing I could do (but don’t at the moment) would be to figure out a way to synchronize the two so that as the movie played the little placemark in the map moved.
For the time being you can hover over the bar chart at the bottom and you’ll see a green placemark move around the map as you move over the chart.