Can You Out-Climb the Downdraft?
Air spilling over a ridge can sink faster than a light airplane climbs — even at full power and best rate. Which side of the hill you meet that wind on decides everything: on the windward face the air is going up and carries you with it, while on the lee it pours down the very face you are climbing. Density altitude has already shrunk your climb; a lee-side downdraft can erase what's left. Switch sides, run the encounter, and see why the fix is rarely "pull harder," it's "turn toward lower terrain."
your track sinking air wind over the ridge—
Reading the encounter
Net vertical speed
Which side of the ridge you are on is the whole story — flip the side toggle and watch the streamlines reverse. Nothing else changes: same terrain, same wind speed, same airplane at the same density altitude. On the windward side that air is carrying you up. On the lee it is pushing you into the hill. Work out where the wind is coming from before you commit to a crossing, and stay on the up-going side of the hill for as long as you can.
Your best rate of climb falls with density altitude, so the very conditions that build strong downdrafts also leave you least able to fight them. That's why the mountain rule is toalways shuttle-climb all the way to your crossing altitude andalways have an escape turn toward lower ground — you can turn away far faster than you can climb away.