RFguy,
I have flown many times over the divide in a Trike and in my Tecnam, depending on what you are flying and what route you are taking & the winds aloft will give you the minutes you spend over no man’s land.
Height is your friend, if cloud base limits you you will have longer runs over where the tigers hide.
You must know the wind direction as it could be critical if the fan stops, the valley 10 miles down wind might be reachable where the valley 5 miles upwind might not be.
It is all weather related, you need probably a minimum of 2500 ft above the terrain to avoid possible mountain wave situations but you can get it higher than that above terrain.
I used to fly either 8500 or 9500 depending on the direction you are heading you also must remember you are up there with IFR traffic with 500ft separation so be disciplined with your heights, at those heights it used to give me a far greater gliding range and in the Tecnam I’m usually no more than 3 minutes over no man’s land, mind you I was always aware of wind direction and track, I just stayed within gliding range of a reachable valley.
At the end of the day it is a calculated risk if the fan stops, you just have to have a disciplined plan and stick to it.
The odds of the engine stopping is minimal, just don’t be blaise and direct track over long areas of Tiger country, crossing the divide has a lot more options than some may think.