On Feb 6, 6:31*pm, matt michael wrote:
Another interesting question is to look at the elevation of the
landing site relative to elevation/distance to South Tahoe airport.

Having done much flying in and around the mountains on that side of
Lake Tahoe, I can tell you that just because a particular airport may
be within straight line gliding distance doesn't mean you can get
there. If you're low (for whatever stupid reason) and in the
mountains, you're left with trying to sneak through low points in the
ridge to get to the lower ground. You may get through one pass, only
to discover that there is yet another ridge on the other side which
you can't quite clear. If you're well and truly screwed, you turn
around only to find that you no longer have enough altitude to clear
the pass you just came through. I haven't messed up quite that badly,
but I did have to make it out of that sort of trap once by dodging
trees. One tends to get religion after an incident like that, and
allow (a lot) more margin...

Marc