You are right. Visual approaches at night may be difficult. There is nothing better than flying an instrument approach with all minimum altitudes on the plate. Plus, it is a great practice, even for an airline pilot. But to sneak to an airport surrounded by mountains at night means that the ground clearance becomes a guess. Those who fly over Rockies or Sierras know that very well. It is like walking to the bathroom in the darkness with a stretched hand, hoping not to hit the wall.
And for Robbreid … I remember a Flight Safety instructor in Wichita, who got a batch of Navy guys to train for King Airs. She lured them to high altitude airports and let them crash since they were used to San Diego elevations and 5000 feet on altimeter felt still high enough. She was surprised how many of them got their ego bruised. The only thing she had to do was to increase their workload and their AGL altitude awareness was gone.
