Churchill Northern Studies Centre

The non profit Churchill Northern Studies Centre hosts  six-day, five-night Sub-Arctic Survivor programs. The center is a working scientific research station built on a former rocket range.

The tour operates in the sub-Arctic reaches of the central Canadian province of Manitoba, near the Hudson Bay seaport of Churchill.

Despite the title, the program isn’t a survival exercise. Lodging is dormitory style with communal bathrooms, meals are served in a central dining hall, and there are computers with free Internet access. During the day, there are snowshoe hikes, dog sledding, snowmobile rides, and the opportunity to gather and examine snow samples for scientific observation. Lectures cover life in the sub-Arctic winter, climate change, and wilderness first aid and medicine. Inuit (Eskimo) speakers and other First Nations people (Natives) give presentations.

Participants will learn to cut blocks of compressed snow and assemble them into igloos, or they’ll build quinzees, simple dome-shaped shelters hollowed out from snow mounds. A farewell dinner on the final evening offers traditional fare like caribou and Arctic char, with fresh-baked bannock break and gooseberry and tundra berry jam.

The program costs approximately $718 per person and covers lodging, most meals, and all activities, including transportation between Churchill’s airfield or train station and the research center. Excluded is air or rail transportation between the provincial capital of Winnipeg and Churchill or transportation between home and Winnipeg. The program is recommended for ages five and older.

For more information, call 204-675-2307 or visit http://www.churchillscience.ca