Two "completely ill-prepared" hikers from Ontario have been saved from a steep cliff in Vancouver's North Shore mountain after becoming lost on a trail that's geared towards alpine mountaineers.

Laila Day and McKenzie Bull were pulled to safety in a life-saving mission on Tuesday.

"We're still not sure how they actually got as far as they did, because it is not a place you go for just a hike. It’s a true alpine, highly technical terrain," Tim Jones, of North Shore Rescue, told CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday.

"Where they were, the equivalent would be going into a gun fight with knives. They were not going to win this one."

Jones said if it wasn't for the couple's cellphone, as well as recent updates to cell service in the area, the couple would likely not have survived.

It took rescuers 30 minutes to spot the couple after they became lost on an unmarked trail called 'The Needles.'

Jones said the rescuers had little time, as they were contending with fading light and marine fog.

Rescuers attached a 150-foot long line to pair to pull them from the cliff.

"Where they were; we couldn't believe they were on down a 300-foot drop," Jones said. "I don’t understand how they got down there, and how they even survived where they got to."

Jones said the couple was only prepared for a day hike hadn't told anyone where they were going, making them “completely ill-prepared” for an emergency.

"They knew they were in a very difficult situation," Jones said. "They were contrite, very appreciative, which was a clear sign to me that they knew they got themselves in a really bad pickle."

Day told CTV British Columbia that the couple was prepared with food, insulation and good hiking boots, "but it just got to the point where we knew that it wasn’t a good idea to try and take it on."

"Once the helicopter was there, that’s when we knew we were going to be fine," she said.

The pair escaped the incident without any injuries.

"You really just have to be careful of what’s out there," Bull said. "We got into a situation where we couldn’t get out of, so just know the land really."

With a report from CTV British Columbia