The thrill of Wild camping in lively Canada

With temperatures dropping in the UK to near freezing this week I've been reminiscing about the summer and about what can truly be described as a once in a lifetime opportunity I was lucky enough to experience. I joined IO winners of a competition run by outdoor brand Helly Hansen to wild camp overnight at the summit of one of Canada's Crown Jewels - Whistler mountain.

- Philippa Jenkins, The Independent

Usually no camping is allowed at the summit but once a year Helly Hansen, who are the official partners of Whistler Blackcomb resort, are given a permit to allow just IO people and their plus ones to head up to the top and set up camp for one night only.

This event has been running for three years and is aptly called the Whistler Summit Sleepover. It is so sought after that thousands of people applied to the competition run on Helly Hansen's social media accounts within the first 24 hours of it being opened. The idea of doing something that is literally not possible to do again or that money can't buy is tricky to comprehend while you're doing it, and with that being etched on my mind I embarked on this surreal overnight mountain experience.

Due to it being a 24 hour event it tends to mean only locals, or those who live within driving distance of Whistler, enter the competition, so the fact there were three of us Brits joining for the short trip meant word got around we were mad enough to have travelled nearly 5,000 miles for a 48 hour stop over. Despite not ever quite knowing what time or day it was, there wasn't a moment it didn't absolutely feel worth it I can safely say Whistler from start to finish is quite incredible.