Tapping into our inner thrill-seeker on a heli-hiking adventure in the Canadian Rockies
By Caroline Tapp-McDougall
Only an hour ago, I was in the dining room at the remote Bobbie Burns Lodge, enjoying a hearty breakfast. Now I’m nervously waiting in the crisp mountain air for the helicopter to take me, and my fellow hikers, up into the Purcells.
While the helicopter blade is still rotating, we run and duck to get in one by one. We’ve been told to strap ourselves in and put on earplugs to drown out the noise. I feel like a character in Stallone’s Cliffhanger as the chopper lifts us up into the powder-blue sky and a breathtaking aerial of the forests below takes shape. The sheer magnificence of being on top of the world—literally—takes over as we fly around mountaintops, swoop through alpine valleys and travel over crystalline lakes.
As the eagle flies
When we land, it’s in the middle of nowhere on the edge of a precipice—meadows to one side and shale cliffs on the other. As the pilot leaves us and heads back through the pass, someone says, “Lord knows how’ll they’ll ever find us here.” There’s more than a bit of trepidation in his voice, but our guide, a heli-skiing/hiking veteran, just smiles.
Time to hike! The sun is glistening on what’s left of winter’s snow, and the freshness in the air catches my breath as I head up the first hill. (Perhaps I’m just a little out of shape?) Thankfully I’m acclimatized after the first half-hour, and can revel in the magic of being up here on what I’m soon to realize is a typical heli-hiking morning.
At some point around midday, the ’copter does indeed find us again. 
We know the drill by now, and hop back on to return to the lodge for lunch. Our guided afternoon hike is shorter but equally impressive—snow-white glaciers; wildflower meadows so pristine they look undiscovered; and wild, seemingly uncharted mountain terrain. It’s hard not to feel like an explorer.
Après hiking, it’s a massage and time in the lodge’s hot tub for me. What’s not to love about enjoying a soak with snow-capped mountain peaks as your backdrop?
Taking on the “iron road”
Day 2 is even more thrilling—a full day’s hike for those who are well rested and willing to bring out their inner daredevil. Way up here, CMH Summer Adventures has constructed its very own via ferrata on Mount Nimbus modelled after the iconic via ferratas, or “iron roads,” that soldiers used in the First World War to cross the Dolomites in northeastern Italy. (The company has also built a similar passage, the Skyladder, in the Bugaboos.)
The via ferratas are full of knee-trembling challenges: a metal rung ladder, a 200-foot suspension bridge, and an extremely slender path resembling a knife’s edge. And it’s only 8,700 feet above the valley floor. No worries… Note to chickens like me—this route is optional if you’re not up for the adrenalin rush.
Après ski in July
The summer treks were born on the heels of CMH’s über-successful winter heli-skiing holidays. Utilizing the same lodges and providing head-to-toe hiking equipment instead of skis, CMH runs these short but invigorating heli-hiking programs in their off-season. While some guests love the mountains at any time of year, the summer program utilizes many of the same experienced guides and attracts a completely different, ‘more focused on hiking’ crowd.
Earth-friendly fare
CMH’s passion for all things natural is in keeping with their goal of preserving their wilderness home. Running the lodges in adherence with high environmental standards and purchasing local products is part of their management style.
A feel-at-home casualness permeates the dining room as the lodges follow the alpine tradition of family-style dining. Breakfast and lunch are help-yourself buffets, and informal evening meals are served by our fun-loving guides. Besides fresh, organic and pesticide-free produce, the chef brings in a selection of fish and the finest beef from west-coast beef farmers. Their roast leg of lamb with Dijon mustard, red wine and fresh thyme, drizzled with a garlic balsamic demi-glace, is a crowd favourite. The wine selection isn’t shy either. Blue Mountain Vineyards supplies CMH with some of the Okanagan Valley’s best Pinot Noirs.
Refreshed after a quick nap and cleanup, we’re ready to carry on the camaraderie of the day with our new-found friends. Over dinner, families and solo-adventurists alike share and compare notes about the day’s 10,000-foot experiences, and “oooh” and “aaah” about what they’ve seen. No fisherman’s tales here about the one that got away the CMH lodges are all about summer hiking and winter skiing, and it’s a real adventure.
On the way up
Getting from here to there is easier than it looks. CMH provides comfortable bus transportation from Calgary airport to the lodge with optional pre- and post-trip stays in Banff National Park. While there, we stayed at the historic Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel—a true treasure that’s well worth checking into for a couple of extra nights. The drive itself is full-on scenery at any time of year—a most delightful way to savour our world-famous Rocky Mountains.
