Originally Posted by
EGQL1964
2 - winds gusting (?) up to 20 knots blowing upslope onto the ridge
Affirm, the red line is the gust level in their charts.
Hence, my (old-style) VFR conditions look rather unlikely.
Many thanks for looking into the details. So I take away that such high-mountain crossing VFR flight should be prepared for
- early morning (before convective activity becomes too strong)
- with anticyclonal high pressure air over the mountainous part of the route
- with only CAVOK or FEW clouds in a sufficiently close TAF (SCT is a warning, BKN OVC TCU CB SHRA, TSHRA are clear no-go's)
- with surface winds in the valleys not above 5-10 kts (average).
Never mind, experience comes from a series of mistakes through life. You have learnt something and got away unscathed. Gruss Gott.
Yes, indeed, and actually I chose this airfield and the overfly route to learn something new about such terrain. I was just surprised how steep the learning curve was, but since me and the plane came home together as planned, I am not complaining at all, it's valuable experience for sure, more valuable in fact, than a lucky uneventful flight would have been.