Prince Harry gets blue blood (well, it is -40°C)

Published on Tuesday 29 March 2011 19:47

Prince Harry has arrived in the Arctic and been warned to expert temperatures as low as minus 40C trekking to the North Pole with a group of wounded servicemen.

The 26-year-old attended a briefing yesterday after he was greeted by the team from the charity Walking With The Wounded, and heard about his training for the next three days.

He is expected to play a full part in final preparations for the expedition, including sleeping out on the ice and dragging a 100kg sled. On Friday, the prince will leave Cape Arkticheskiy and fly out to Camp Barneo, the start point of the 200-mile trek, and join them for the first few days of the challenge.

Asked if he was ready, he said: "Not as ready as these guys are, but I'm just here to give them as much support as possible. I haven't had as much time to train." He added, jokingly: "But today, to their huge amusement, they're going to see me on a pair of, whatever they're called, skis, this afternoon. So it should be entertaining for all of us."

Harry is patron of the Walking With The Wounded charity, which aims to raise 2 million from the unaided trek to help other injured servicemen and women find work, peace of mind and security.

During the briefing in Longyearbyen, on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, team leader Inge Solheim said polar bears were known to be in the area.One had been chased away from the town only two days ago.

Mr Solheim told the team before yesterday's training: "It's going to be around minus 25C today, so it's quite mild and good, nothing like we're going to get in the polar ocean.

"Hopefully out there we'll get minus 35C to minus 40C, with good stable high pressure."

Harry winced as he heard the extreme temperatures.

The four wounded servicemen, who sustained their injuries fighting in Afghanistan, will be joined by the two co-founders of Walking With The Wounded.

Captain Martin Hewitt, 30, from Cheshire, was left with a paralysed right arm after being shot and Captain Guy Disney, 29, from Oxford, had his right leg amputated below the knee after he was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). Private Jaco Van Gass, 24, from South Africa, had his left arm amputated and suffered significant tissue loss to his left leg when he, too, was hit by an RPG, and Sergeant Stephen Young, 28, from Tonypandy, in Wales, suffered a broken back after his vehicle was blown up by a roadside bomb.

Mr Solheim and charity co-founders Simon Dalglish and Ed Parker complete the group.

Each team member will haul their sleds packed with everything they will need on the trip, including 88lb of food, clothing and personal kit, cooking equipment, fuel for their stoves, tents and communications gear.