Left downwind to 33 isn't something I'd like to be seen doing in the jets I've flown into ASE! (Lear 60, Hawker and Westwind) A C-185 or PA-18 on floats though, yeah I've done terrain following approaches like that into back country rivers and lakes. That's for fun. Yee Haw!!!
But flying into the mountain resort airports in bizjets is... well... business! While there are times, places and situations which might call for some skillful flying, prudent planning and flight operations standards generally seek to reduce these instances to a minimum.
Landing at ASE on a nice day need not especially challenging when you know the airport and have properly planned the arrival. But it's certainly more demanding than your average flatland aerodrome. Now throw in some weather and things can get a bit more interesting. The day this accident happened was one of those days where the wind was variable in direction and intensity. Some airplanes got in. Some of them might have landed during a lull in the wind and some of then may have used up some of their runway safety factor landing with a tailwind component in excess of 10 kts. That can definitely turn up the heat for a mission oriented pilot to take on more than they should.
From my comfortable chair here at home after the fact, and knowing what the outcome was, the decision to bag it and divert somewhere else is an easy one to make. But up there in the airplane on the day, it takes real discipline to make the safer call and divert when you're getting in a little too deep.
Now the way I see it, that's what you're really being paid for as a pilot. Prudent judgment resulting in safe outcomes that were never in serious doubt. But there is sometimes great temptation to allow prudent decision-making to be overridden by "go-mission syndrome" (gethtereitis) in the heat of the moment. The NTSB reports are rife with a wide variety of examples of this particular human failing. Like any working pilot, I've felt that temptation to push harder and even pushed a little more than (upon further reflection) was really prudent at times. Any pilot who says they haven't is either lying or completely devoid of any capacity for introspection. Neither should be trusted! The question is: Can other pilots truly learn from the mistakes of others or do they have to learn prudent judgment by scaring the hell out of themselves? Like Forrest Gump said in the movie: I think it's a little of both...