Simple question. How do i do it?

I've searched the MSDN and here on vbforums, but so far have only found how to load a bmp:
Code:
HBITMAP hBmp = (HBITMAP)LoadImage(NULL, "Terrain.bmp", IMAGE_BITMAP, 0, 0, LR_DEFAULTCOLOR | LR_LOADFROMFILE);
and how to put it into a device context (which i don't think i want to do.


What i'm trying to do here is create a terrain generator using a bitmap as the hightmap. I've currently got the engine working, all i need now is a way do get a heightmap in. So i decided on a grey-scale bmp as that seemed the easiest way (creating terrain).


As always thanks for any help you may provide.