Anyway, none of the above seem to me to relate to deliberately choosing to cruise in IMC below MSA because of the presence of the terrain model, which is what this subthread is about.
Actually you might be surprised that in some countries this is perfectly acceptable. E.g. crossing the Alps via one of the 'valley routes', a technique employed to be able to fly in VMC if the mountain tops are obscured, same in the western US. In this scenario, SVT would come in VERY handy, as the danger of turning into a dead-end valley (or a box canyon, as they would say in the US) is high. I would, however, stick to the 'official' routes, as I don't think I'd trust the database with cablecars and power lines
