Is that a Remington 700?
Not challenging, good length, note power line on approach, you don’t need to land on the steep bit but it’s good practice.
ESMF with a northly wind (uphill takeoff with a forrest at the end of the runway) in early spring (damp 1/3 bottom part of the runway). I didn’t bring much fuel.
In the rest of Europe I have not been to very difficult places. It’s the occasional fields that are relatively short where you need to take-off at MTOW on a hot summer day at 3pm.
In South Africa, it was the one-way strips (landing downhill on gravel with an 8kts tailwind at Kunkuru, felt like surfing), the very narrow strips (1.5m of asphalt on either side of the main wheels at Zyn Kraal, hold that centerline in a crosswind), the obstacles (hills, trees, power-lines, antennas, silos and whatnot at RWY ends or on the approach) so you have to offset on very short final or take-off and immediately level-off to pick-up speed and have something to trade for altitude 300m downfield, the strips on a hillside (always some sort of wind-sheer, but that’s everywhere), the high DA in general (take-off from 7-8000ft, and it was only early spring), and all the combinations of the above. Plus the occasional cow/wildebeest/baboon/elephant on the runway. It’s a good school though, you learn very very fast.
Val Thorens altisurface (LF7327; see BASULM sheet below) in summer is easily the most hardcore strip I’ve been (with very experienced MOU instructor – going solo would be a suicide mission for most). 8100 ft with difficult topology and aerology. Rugged surface, curved, ditch and metal poles on the side, and 15 m narrow.
Other two challenging altisurfaces are Colombe d’Eyguians (LF0553) and Valloire Bonnenuit (LF7332) IMO, but there are lots like them in France.
Most challenging regular airport was probably Saint Jean d’avelanne (LFKH) and Saint Claude Pratz (ex-LFKZ, now LF3923).
Val Thorens Altisurface: https://basulm.ffplum.fr/bases/liste-des-terrains/details/59/10348.html
Wow that looks like a great destination to have made it to. I would love some time in the future to visit all of these altiports/surfaces with a local instructor and write a book about it. My children will need to grow up a bit first! It would be all the better if I did it in a French aeroplane.
Here’s a “rather challenging” strip in Papua New Guinea. Interesting commentary by the pilot. What a job to be doing for a living!
The most stressful landing of 2020:
