Incredibly Tough: A Polar Adventure | Sherry Ott and Juliana Dever with the HTC Bolt | Corning Gorilla Glass

It was Sherry’s first day out on the Tundra, riding the Tundra Buggy®. As she did throughout the trip, Sherry took advantage of taking once-in-a-lifetime images (like this one) with the HTC Bolt™ in HDR mode. Halloween, of course, was capped off with “trick or treaters” going from house to house under the watchful protection of Polar Bear Patrols. There were no incidents — another Halloween success in this unique little community that shares its streets with polar bears.

When you live in a Tundra town, with polar bears wandering around it, you have to come up with some tough protection. In 1969, the Polar Bear Control Program was created. The program had three main objectives: to protect human life, to protect personal property from damage and to ensure polar bears are not unduly harassed or killed. So far, the 2016 Bear Season has been a busy one – 223 calls on the polar bear hotline, 22 handled, 15 released and 7 in holding. These officers are Incredibly Tough! 

Pre-migration, these bears are on land without eating for 4 or 5 months – at this time of year they are all hungry – and they will actually hunt each other at times. On this day, Sherry saw 2 female bears being stalked by a hungry/skinny male bear. The two females walked through the snow at a brisk pace coming right up to the Tundra Buggy®. In particularly high winds, Sherry stayed on the observation deck capturing the drama with her HTC Bolt™, operating it in Glove Mode, and duly impressed that this smartphone with Gorilla® Glass 5 was tough enough to handle the elements — never phased by by the cold, the wind or the snow. 

Capping off Sherry’s journey was a two-night train ride back to Winnipeg. Built on permafrost that freezes and thaws and is ever shifting – this is a one of a kind rail line. And while it a bit precarious and tough, the rail line is the only dry land connection between Churchill and the rest of Canada. For safety, the train is only allowed to go at a top speed of 40 mph. The thousand-mile train ride offered stunning views, as the boreal forest and the snow eventually succumbed to the heart of the Manitoba prairie and rural farms. Sherry shot a Hyperlapse video of the sunrise across the prairie with her HTC Bolt™ and also took the opportunity to take in some podcasts. “It was my first time to check out the HTC Bolt adaptive earphones that use sonar technology for auto-calibration to my ears,” she said. “It made me forget the clicking and clacking of the train, and just enjoy my broadcasts.”

As one might expect, dog sledding is a big part of the arctic life. Juliana caught up with Dave Wapsuk, founder of the Hudson Bay Quest — a dog sledding race that spans hundreds of miles from Churchill to Winnipeg. In this shot, Juliana captured these resilient dogs amidst their sledding houses. Soon after, she captured her own dog sledding adventure in 4k video with the HTC Bolt™. Check it out in the video highlights below.  

Out in the tundra, standing on the observation deck of the Tundra Buggy, Juliana had her fist Polar Bear sighting — a female with her two yearling cubs slowly walking nearby. Crediting the HTC Bolt™, Julian said, “I love that I can shoot in RAW with the PRO mode. It made capturing the sunsets move vivid.” On this day, she saw 18 Polar Bears in total.

“Today my time on the observation deck was limited because the wind was bitingly cold,” She explained. “At one point, while trying to photograph bears on the kelp-covered terrain, the inevitable happened: I dropped my phone. I had it about eye-level (five feet) and it slipped right through my gloves. It hit the metal grating of the deck floor. Funny thing? I wasn’t worried. I picked it back and quickly grabbed the shot of the bear before even inspecting it. It survived. Thanks Gorilla® Glass 5.”

Throughout her journey, Juliana had high praise for the HTC Bolt™. “The quick launch camera made it really easy to start capturing image or shooting as soon as a polar bear got up close to our Tundra Buggy.” And on the rugged, rocky ride back to Churchill: “I only dropped my HTC Bolt™ once as we hit the trail after driving over a boulder – still no damage.” That’s high praise too for tough Gorilla® Glass 5.