Prince Harry Prepares To Walk To The South Pole

He's spent a day in a frost tank in preparation, and this Sunday, Prince Harry will join one of three teams of wounded servicemen and women attempting to trek to the geographic South Pole for the Walking With The Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge.

Kensington Palace confirmed the final details of the adventure this morning.

The challenge will consist of three seven-man teams from the UK, Commonwealth and USA – each with four wounded team members.

They will head for Cape Town on Sunday, and will fly from Cape Town to Novolazarevskaya Station, Antarctica on 19th November where they will spend a few days acclimatizing to the Antarctic temperature. Once acclimatized, the teams will fly to 87° south, where they will spend further time acclimatizing to the altitude.The expedition to the South Pole will begin from 87° south on 30th November, with the teams hoping to reach the geographic South Pole by 16th December.

So yes, they should be home for Christmas.

The teams of service personnel, all of whom have physical or cognitive injuries, will race 335km across the Antarctic Plateau. The distance will be divided into managed stages and checkpoints and each team will have an experienced polar guide and nominated mentor. Due to the hostile conditions and the nature of the injuries involved, the expedition teams will be followed by a support team, who will be on hand in case of emergencies.

The teams will represent and raise funds for military charities from the constituent nations: Soldier On (Canada); Solder On (Australia); Soldiers to Summits (United States); and Walking With The Wounded (United Kingdom).

Trekking around 15km to 20km per day, the teams will endure temperatures as low as -45°C and 50mph winds as they pull their pulks (custom built arctic sledges), each weighing in excess of 70kg, towards the southernmost point on the globe.

As with previous Walking With The Wounded expeditions, the South Pole Allied Challenge aims to highlight the extraordinary courage and determination of the men and women who have been wounded while serving their countries and to draw attention to the need to help in their career transition.

The actor Dominic West is joining the Commonwealth team as team ambassador.