Originally Posted by
ATC Watcher
3) She knew the area well : In winter ? In the mountains flying in late evening with no wind in the Summer for instance will not give you any winter windy experience at all.
You can have plenty of wind experience in the mountains year round, summer and winter.
I have had mountain training and was told to ALWAYS learn what the wind speeds were before you tried going through mountain passes, and to just not go if it was too high.
I know what updrafts and downs drafts can do to a small plane - they can change your rate of climb or descent by 1000 to 1500 fpm.
The service ceiling for a Piper Archer is around 14,000 feet per the internet. 9,000 feet is well below that, but it is still thin air.
Plus, you should lean the mixture for optimal performance when flying at that altitude.