As a Swissie, the Alps have always been part of my landscape. I lived for years by the shares of Lake Geneva, from where I could see the Mont-Blanc from my balcony. I spent winter days skiing, and summer days hiking, and this is how I learned to know, and respect the Alps. If you live close to a mountainous area, or to an ocean, you probably know this kind of sentiment. I took my first alpine flight with this respect in mind. Mountain flying is part of the PPL syllabus in Switzerland. This first flight was from Geneva to Sion, via the Col des Aravis (4600 feet), the Petit Saint-Bernard (7550 feet), and Grand Saint-Bernard (8050 feet). To have a good safety margin, and for training, we climbed to 12′000 feet.

Climbing so high with HB-HGB, an AS-202 Bravo, took some time. The plane maximum take-off weight is 999 kilograms, and the engine develops 160 horse power. Well, 160 horse power at sea level. But at 12′000 feet, where air density is much lower, the performance are seriously impaired. At a certain time, my Instructor was a bit unhappy because I lost 200 feet. This did not sound so dramatic to me, but when the best possible rate of climb is 150 to 250 feet per minute, this is not negligible.

A handful of swiss airports are located in the Alps, including the three “S”: Sion, Saanen, and Samedan. Sion, LSGS, (click here to see a landing in video) is probably the easiest of the three. The runway is plenty long, and it is not at high altitude (1′600 feet). Its location in the middle of a valley with nearby peaks over 7′500 feet makes it unusual, but the valley is wide enough to fly an almost standard circuit pattern. The base leg is short, and sometimes replaced by a direct turn from downwind to final, but this is easy to manage. Click here to see the photos and comments of Ian Valentine, from the www.cirrus147.com group about Sion. Being based in England, Ian is not so used to flying mountains, making his comments very interesting.

Saanen, LSGK, is a bit more specific. The approach starts overhead, and the runway is not in sight before final. Moreover, the “pattern” is flown within a mountain circus around the town of Gstaad. Located at 3300 feet, a good performance check is important. The runway is long, but there are many obstructions around. A friend of mine one landed on snow up-there. If you don’t want to try it, give a phone call before you go to avoid surprises. This airport is so specific that I made a separate post about it. Click here to read more about Saanen, and look at videos.

Samedan, LSZS, is for me the most impressive of the three. Located at 5′600 feet, and with temperatures above 25°C in Summer, making good leaning a serious topic there. The runway is long, slightly over 6′000 feet, but take.off performance is crucial, as the density altitude can reach 8′000 feet. As Sion, it is located in a valley, but this one is tinier. Definitely no base leg there, and even a continuous turn leads to an axis overshoot, and the turn must be continued beyond 180 degrees to rejoin the final track. It’s also more impressive than Sion, because all the ways out require to climb and fly through a pass. No escape route via a valley, it’s a climb or come back airport. Click here to see a take-off and landing in video.

But flying the Alps do not only mean landing there, but also flying passes, and around mountains. Each pilots has a his favorite routes. I personally like the Jaunpass, between Gruyères and Spiez, as well as overflying the “Plaine Morte” (literally Dead Plain) glacier, north of Crans-Montana. Flying the Gemmipass from Spiez to Leukerbad is also impressive, because the terrain raises slowly, but the immediately after the pass, there is a huge cliff, falling from 8′800 feet to 4′500 feet “only” over an horizontal distance of less than one mile.

Flying passes is always a magical moment. They mark changes between regions, and can be challenging to manage… How is weather on the other side ? What is wind like ? Will the crossing be smooth or bumpy ? Any traffic around ? What is the escape plan ? I was lucky enough to fly many of them (Aravis, Petit and Grand St-Bernard, Jaun, Brünig, Sanetsch, Grimsel, San-Bernardino, Gemmi, Nufenen, Albula, Madeleine, …), and they are always challenging. Not only for pilots, but also for meteorologists… I planned four times to cross the Simplon, from Brig to Domodossola. The route forecast was twice excellent, but once there it was completely blocked by clouds. The two other attempts were canceled because the route forecasts were bad, but once in the region, the pass looked fine… I did not divert, because other plans were made…

There are hundreds of summits in the Alps, but some are more symbolic, and more popular than others, and attract their good share of VFR traffic. You probably all heard about the Mont-Blanc, the Jungfraujoch, and the Matterhorn. Circling around the Matterhorn on a windless day is an unforgettable experience. But forget about overflying the Mont-Blanc, unless you’ve a turbo engine, and an IFR clearance.