There are many places in the world that have mountains. What makes BC unique is that it is nearly all mountains and those mountains create a wall that the Pacific weather systems slam into. Few places in the world have locations that allow for deep sea fishing, ocean scuba diving, sun burns on the beach, rock climbing, snow boarding and glacier ice cave exploration, all in one day!
While this is what gives us the moniker of “Beautiful British Columbia”, it is also what makes travel within the province treacherous. Driving the length of the province is a 30 hour, 2400km(approx) journey with multiple mountain passes and very unpredictable weather. Flying commercially, while routine and usually uneventful, is seldom a pleasant ride. Even at 30,000 ft the mechanical turbulence can be terrifying to the uninitiated. Flying GA in BC is an adventure and never taken lightly.
After 50+ years and 10’s of thousands of hours flying in some of the most inhospitable locations on our planet, I still catch myself tensing up getting in and out of some of the locations I fly regularly. I have written, on this forum, numerous posts regarding the reality of turbulence and wind when users have complained that the model has destroyed their airplane when flying over a mountain ridge or had them bouncing about uncontrollably. These users seem to think that turbulence is way over done. It is not. It is horribly under done.
I could write a book on mountain flying techniques and anecdotes about mountain experiences in small planes. @Ramasurinen summed it nicely when they wrote…
Much of the advice they offered is good advice. The only thing I can add is that when flying into the mountains, there is no substitute for proper planning, preparation, training and awareness.
I will leave you with these few thoughts…