The List: The Coolest Things about our Winters

1. Ice Roads: Between January and March the ice roads get over a metre thick and despite the cracking and booming the ice makes, it’ll hold you no matter how many servings of moose stew you indulge in. Cruise from Yellowknife to Dettah or on the scenic Mackenzie Delta from Inuvik to Aklavik and out onto the Beaufort Sea to Tuktoyaktuk. Be sure to take photos – you might need them to show that you’ve had your very own “Ice Road Truckers” experience.
2. Ice Fishing: With thousands of lakes scattered throughout the Northwest Territories there is no shortage of great fishing locations. Auger a hole through a few feet of ice (if you weren’t hungry before, this will certainly stir up your appetite), cast a line and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate while you wait for dinner to bite. To keep warm, set up an ice fishing tent, or better yet, build an igloo around you.
3. Reindeer Herds: During the first week of April an impressive 2,500 reindeer cross the iced-over Mackenzie River near Inuvik. Visitors even have the chance to get up close to the herd by following them on snowmobile to their birthing grounds on Richards Island. Interested in crossing this off your bucket list? Click here for more information.
4. Sun that Doesn’t Rise: The NWT is famous for its sun-drenched, 24-hour daylight in the summer, but did you know that in the some communities the sun doesn’t rise for about a month during the winter? In Inuvik, locals celebrate the first sunrise of the year with a bonfire and (if weather permits) a barbeque at the Sunrise Festival in early January. Tropicana even “brought the sun to Inuvik” one year as part of their “brighter mornings make for brighter days” campaign. (Click here to watch it).
5. Aurora: Also known as the Northern Lights, the Aurora often appear as curtains made up of parallel rays that fold and ripple as they swirl across the sky. Sometimes the lights move with incredible speed and sometimes they hover lazily from horizon to horizon in great arcs. You might see them as ghostly wisps in green, red and violet that suddenly burst into giant spokes. Visitors can view these lights from August to April each year.
6. Sun Dogs: Sun dogs, or phantom suns, are a strange occurrence that can make you think the sun has multiplied. Ice crystals form in the clouds during the colder months and act as prisms that bend the rays of light. Sometimes this will appear as an ice halo around the sun, other times you’ll find yourself staring at three suns. If that isn’t wild enough, they also come in different colours depending on how close to the actual sun they appear. They range from red through to blue the further out they get. And you thought the Aurora was the only magical thing in our sky.
7. Ice Fog: Ice fog is a type of fog made up of fine ice crystals suspended in the air. In the coldest months of the year, this shimmering phenomenon transforms the NWT into an ethereal wonderland. Even on the coldest winter days, it’s hard to resist the beauty of ice fog by staying indoors.