Britain's Prince Harry To Ski To The South Pole This Year

We already knew that Prince Harry had an adventurous streak. In 2011 he joined a team of soldiers who had been wounded in battle on a trek to the North Pole. Harry is the patron of the Walking with the Wounded organization and although other obligations (namely is brother’s royal wedding!) kept him from going all the way to the top of the world, he still felt it was important to be there with his companions. It turns out the Prince has an affinity for the cold places of our planet, as he now intends to join another team that will race to the South Pole later this year.

According to this article in the Daily Mail, Harry will once again join a team of skiers from the Walking with the Wounded foundation as they attempt to ski to 90ºS. But it seems that is just the tip of the iceberg (pun fully intended!) on this expedition. The team will actually represent the U.K. in a race to the South Pole, which will also include teams from the U.S. and one from the Commonwealth countries of Canada and Australia.

The article is scant on details although as you would expect, the competitors in this race will travel to the Antarctic in November and they have an eye on wrapping up the expedition by December 17. That would lead me to believe that this is a Last Degree journey to the Pole and not a full length expedition. We’ll probably have to wait until the 2013 Antarctic season draws nearer before we’ll know for sure.

One of the impressions I took away from Harry’s 2011 polar expedition is that when he is with the other members of the team, he is just one of the guys. Everyone comments on how down to Earth he is and how good it is to have him on these expeditions. I get the impression that he truly likes doing these adventurous activities and perhaps a visit to the polar regions is a nice escape for him. After all, how many paparazzi are there a the Poles?

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Kraig Becker

Kraig is an outdoor and adventure travel writer based in Nashville, TN. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to numerous online and print outlets, including Popular Mechanics, Gear Junkie, Outside Online, National Geographic, Digital Trends, Business Insider, TripSavvy, about.com, and of course The Adventure Blog.