Originally Posted by
helisdw
so hopefully you don't mind some feedback from a rotary wing driver who spends his time in the mountains of western Canada.
Absolutely not, as a low-hour hobby pilot I am very grateful for all constructive criticism from experienced people.
When approaching a ridge line like this, I'd always recommend losing altitude to below the ceiling/cloud bases well before reaching the mountain - you improve forward visibility and avoid avoid entering cloud like you did approaching the mountain side.
Point taken! I was afraid of losing altitide and then unable to cimb, but now I know I could have gotten around the aircraft to climb again when needed.
questionable visibility you should fly an approach other than 90 degrees to the ridge line - typically 45 degrees is advocated.
Got it, very logical why.Next time I plan this from the beginning.
In this case there was a clearer bright area with lower ground to your right - this would have been my choice of area to attempt a crossing, especially as there was falling ground to use as an escape route.
Actually the terrain elevation on my right was 40 feet higher, I checked these from Google Maps before my trip. So I kept it as my 2nd option in reserve. I found this picture from east to west direction of the area, the peak in front is Derese, the distant one is Skalka, and I passed in between them, from left to right.
https://goo.gl/maps/SwF7qb6Fm4J2
As RatherBeFlying mentioned the wind was upslope as you approached and you got on the 'backside' after crossing - in stronger wind conditions you can expect rotor action and down drafts after crossing the demarcation line, so you'd be wise to increase your crossing altitude if the cloud base allows for it.
Very true. After crossing, I was still under the "mental" pressure from the low cloud base on the upwind side, and I started to descent nearly immediately. Now I understand I should have climbed for a little while, there was sufficient room for that on the downwind side.