[en] The channeling characteristics for 70.5-MeV and 255-MeV π⁺ and π^- traversing a 120-μ thick silicon crystal have been measured. The energy loss for channeled π⁺ is about ²/₃ that obtained for ''random'' incidence, while that for channeled π^- is slightly (approximately 10 percent) higher. For both π⁺ and π^- strong steering effects are observed under axial channeling conditions. Similar steering effects are seen in planar channeling for π⁺ but not for π^-. The results suggest there is a high probability for π^- to be captured into classical trajectories that spiral around the rows of atoms in the crystal