Arctic Adventures

Wintergreen's arctic trips are planned and led by director Paul Schurke, a top-ranking arctic adventurer and guide who has received the Explorers Club's "Merit Citation" and Outside magazine's "Adventurer of the Year" award. He designs his trip itineraries to include meaningful opportunities to connect with local culture and communities, a mix of easy and challenging travel days, a variety of mountain, tundra and sea ice scenery, opportunities to observe arctic animals without impacting them, and information on environmental issues particularly the urgent research being done on arctic climate change.

These springtime trips include the luxury of arctic round-the-clock sunlight but the weather can range from balmy to blizzards. Trip candidates need an open mind, an adventurous spirit, a good sense of humor and better than average fitness. Skiing skills are NOT required but winter camping experience is. That can be obtained by participating on a dogsled camping trip of choice at Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge, Ely, Minnesota. This training opportunity is available to all arctic trip registrants at no additional charge and helps gauge if an arctic trip is a "fit" for them.

Wintergreen's arctic trips rank among the most exotic experiences available anywhere (Outside Magazine ranked our Greenland trip among the world's "Top 25 Adventures of a Lifetime" and National Geographic featured them in an award-winning documentary movie!). But trips in the Arctic, where the remoteness magnifies the costs of everything, are very expensive. Please note however that most of the cost will stay in the Arctic as it's passed along to the local mushers, charter planes and Arctic service providers who help us make trips of this magnitude possible. This is eco-tourism at its best since these trips contribute substantially to the sustainability of these Arctic communities and cultures, and feature traditional Arctic skills.