We describe the mean rate at which a general absolutely continuous
stationary $S \alpha S$ process crosses a high level. Only nondegeneracy
assumptions are imposed in the case $1 < \alpha < 2$. The same results
hold for $0 < \alpha \leq 1$ under certain conditions, ensuring existence of
the required conditional moments and the applicability of the classical
integral formula for the expected number of level crossings.