KEY POINTS:
Thwack, thwack, thwack, came the deafening thump of the rotors, even through the dense layer of earplugs. "... and huddle," bellowed Lyle, our mountain guide for the day. Down we went, clinging to each other's shoulders as the helicopter descended right next to us into a gap I previously reckoned akin to the size of a postage stamp.
Just before screwing my eyes shut I realised with horror that the gap marked out for the chopper to land in was a dip - and we were on the uphill slope. Decapitation must surely follow. I shrieked as the red beast descended. But thankfully, the noise and force-nine gale accompanying the helicopter were so strong none of my companions heard me - and if they did, they were too kind to mention it.
As we leapt into the belly of the beast I took a moment to appreciate the fact that a mid-afternoon near-death experience really gets the adrenalin surging.
This was my first day heli-hiking in the Bugaboo Mountains. Nestled high in the Purcell Mountains, the Bugaboos are the lesser-known, older and less accessible - hence the helicopter - neighbour of Canada's Rockies. The inaccessibility also makes them a hikers' mecca.
Today, the man with the plan is guide Lyle Grisedale. He works for Canadian Mountain Holidays, which in 1965 was the first company in the world to start heli-skiing - right here in the Bugaboos. Lyle is a character. He's been guiding all over the world and has the confidence to take a group of mixed-ability hikers and introduce them to his mountains - and make them love it. We almost certainly would have loved it anyway.
From the first moment of choppering in to "Powder Pig Scramble" over the cobalt-blue mountain lakes, startlingly pitted against the snowy peaks of the glaciers, we are awed by the majesty of it all.
The mountains get their name from a gold hoax at the turn of the 19th century and our days of touring here are filled with stories of gold-diggers' encounters with the wild animals of the extensive terrain.
Certainly we were all obsessed with looking for bears, preferably big grizzlies chomping on anything other than us, close enough to photograph. We learned early that grizzlies have a sense of smell that ranges for 16km. That knowledge alone is enough to give you a thrill - close to panic - if you need to nip off on your own for a high-altitude toilet stop.
Another thing to watch out for here is the weather, which can be extreme and changes quickly. On our first day the snowstorm became so intense that our chopper ride home was canned and we were forced to hike through white nothingness - with long falls off a precarious skyline ridge only a couple of metres on either side.
But walking out in a -5C whiteout with a thick snow crust on your clothes, seems a small price to pay for three days roaming far and wide along mountain ridges, swimming in glacier lakes and being caught in a snowstorm. We didn't see any grizzlies, but the awesome Bugaboo Mountains were a reward in themselves.
Janna Dixon travelled to Canada courtesy of Air New Zealand and was hosted by Tourism BC.
