2021: The Year in Pictures

We would have been hard-pressed to make an accurate prediction for what 2021 had in store at the start of the year. The year was... let's just say interesting. In the end, we persevered and as we step back to take a breathe and enjoy the holidays, we reflect on the wins and challenges of the past twelve months. Perseverance, persistence and embracing challenges alongside fantastic staff, partners and guests were instrumental in our successes 2021.

Join us as we take a look at the past year and relive some of our most memorable moments. Thank you to all our staff and partners for working so hard and diligently and thank you to our guests who were able to visit safely, mindfully and enjoy what we are passionate about.

The show goes on, no matter who's around 

A bucket list trip for many people is a trip up to Churchill in February or March to witness breathtaking northern lights. Despite restrictions preventing any non-essential travel up to Churchill, Churchill's year-round residents were able to enjoy a number of fantastic aurora borealis displays in February and March. 

This coming year we are excited to witness the aurora borealis again. We have a variety of trips to satisfy everyone, from photographers to foodies, and we cannot wait to head up to Churchill again for our Northern Lights and Winter Nights tours to photograph, play and dine under the northern lights at Dan's Diner.

© Abby Matheson

Going paperless with our 2021 brochure

For the first time, we have moved our 2021 brochure to be entirely online to reduce our paper usage and continue to transition to more sustainable practices for the future. Sustainability is at the forefront of our minds with significant steps such as becoming B-Corp certified in 2020 alongside smaller steps, like going paperless for our brochure, all help us towards our goals and commitments for environmental sustainability. Transferring to an e-publication allowed us to divert 22,000 paper brochure copies. Request your very own copy of our e-brochure.

© Frontiers North Adventures

Tundra Buggy One - lego® edition

Frontiers North Adventures has worked closely alongside Polar Bears International (PBI) since 2000. PBI is the only not-for-profit dedicated solely to preserving wild polar bears and is famous for its mobile broadcast studio: Tundra Buggy One. Tundra Buggy One tours the tundra in autumn, connecting with classrooms and polar bear enthusiasts alike.

In May, a homage to Tundra Buggy One was created entirely out of the famous blocks and submitted to Lego® Ideas by polar bear enthusiasts (and family members of Polar Bears International staff) Caleb and Ella Krouse. If 1,000 votes are reached, Tundra Buggy One will become an official Lego® product! Click here to vote! 

© Handcraft Creative

Picture Yourself in Churchill

As the old saying goes... "If you can't travel, send a cardboard cutout of yourself to travel instead" officially, this isn't exactly an old saying or a saying at all, but it happened in 2021.

To make up for the lack of travel during the pandemic's challenging times, we launched a digital contest called Picture Yourself In Churchill. With a submission, individuals could enter to win a trip to Churchill. Anyone could follow the guidelines and submit a photo of themselves for the chance to see have their cardboard cutout visit Churchill until they can make it up there in person. We received many submissions, but there could only be one winner, Barb. Barb's cardboard cutout has visited many Churchill locales, and we can't wait to welcome the real Barb to Churchill in 2022.

©Abby Matheson

Why is the figure missing from our logo

On July 1st, we decided to remove the adventurer figure from our logo. As a company, we are constantly learning and evolving and reflecting on what we can do better. As a certified B corporation committed to social responsibility, we feel it is essential to view how we operate and our social responsibility as interwoven. We are committed to addressing, improving, and learning from our decisions and working towards a better future. We cannot erase the past, but we can acknowledge that change is needed.   

SubArctic Discovery takes Flight

We are excited to announce a new trip taking flight in 2022 at Frontiers North Adventures, Subarctic Discovery: Polar Bears will host direct flights to Churchill from Montreal and Calgary. In October 2021, we had our first Subarctic Discovery trip, hosting guests from Montreal! 

In 2023 we are looking forward to including Subarctic Discovery: Northern Lights and Subarctic Discovery: Beluga Whales on our list of trips. 

© Alex Cupeiro

Rolling out the EV Tundra Buggy

In November, we rolled out the world's first EV Tundra Buggy®. It is a significant step in reducing our carbon emissions and being leaders in the sustainable tourism industry. Over the years, we have worked to reduce GHGs by optimizing our flight schedules and this year, continuing towards that goal, we converted a diesel-powered Tundra Buggy to electric. This conversion will help lower our emissions by 8 tonnes over a year. We plan to convert the rest of our fleet of twelve Tundra Buggies to electric over the next decade.  

©Frontiers North Adventures

Meet Floe and Drift

In December, we were pleased to learn that Polar Bears International had named Frontiers North Adventures a sponsor for Polar Bear #4 in their polar bear tracker program. We have named her Floe and affectionately called her cub "Drift." Floe is a fourteen-year-old female polar bear who was collard during fall 2021. GPS tracking collars provide some of the best long-term monitoring data on female polar bears in the world. 

You can follow their movements by using PBI's Bear Tracker.

©Simon Gee

The Annual Wildlife Count

Each year we keep a running tally of all the wildlife we see during our adventures in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area. We do this so we can compare year over year how much wildlife we see in order to have an understanding of how populations in the North are faring, and so that we can share with our guests what they might expect to see when they join us on a Tundra Buggy® excursion. Check out our Wildlife Count 2021.  

©Emilie St. Pierre

That wraps up our year in pictures for 2021. We hope you enjoyed following along with us, and we wish you all the best in 2022!

Want to learn more about Churchill and its incredible wildlife?