Hi Vicki, We're sorry to hear that the weather impacted your trip and you were only able to see polar bear from the helicopter. After your trip I believe that you were sent an email from our operator explaining that there had been a sudden cold snap in Churchill which caused the ice to form early last year. While data varies for this exact week in terms of the number of bears seen and weather conditions, sightings have mostly been successful from mid to late November. Sadly, that wasn’t the case last year.
As you wanted to combine polar bear viewing with the Northern Lights into one trip, a date for your trip was discussed at the time of booking to maximise your chances of being able to see both - a later season polar bear trip and an early season Northern Lights trip. There is generally a cloudy period from mid October to mid November which reduced chances of seeing the Northern Lights, so lodges in the Yukon don't operate much earlier.
We trust that our local operators have many years of experience and know the general pattern of what time of year the Northern Lights may be seen to only operate when the chances are good, and lodges only reopen mid to late November. January and February are peak season in terms of the number of visitors travelling to the region for Northern Lights viewing, but are by no means necessarily the best time to see them.
Thank you for taking the time to provide us with valuable feedback.
