Years ago, I took a commercial flight out of Durango, Colorado. With mountains on all sides, a fully loaded aircraft, and a hot summer day the pilot went into a turn immediately after takeoff and continued to corkscrew his way out of the valley until he had enough altitude to get over the mountains. Luckily, the crew advised over the intercom what was about to take place. I guess it made me feel a little better to know what was going on, but I found myself hoping he had done this successfully before.
