The harsh, icy conditions of the Antarctic were cold enough to put a chill on the spirits of fun-loving Prince Harry.
The prince and a team of wounded warriors arrived Friday at a military base in Novo, Antarctica for a much-anticipated charity trek, but only after weather conditions delayed their flight from South Africa for two days.
“It’s amazing how in six hours, your morale can go from — it was pretty high, almost sort of pouring over the edge — and then suddenly rock bottom,” Harry said upon arrival. “The weather forecast is supposedly alright, but it seems to be getting worse. There’s normally blue sky and sunshine.”
The prince, the fourth line to the British throne, is a member of three teams participating in a 200-mile race to the South Pole to raise awareness for Walking with the Wounded, an organization that helps people injured in military service. His teammates are made up mainly of American and British veterans wounded in combat. They spent part of last week in Cape Town receiving a safety and logistical briefing to prepare them for Antarctica.
Harry, 29, is a British army helicopter pilot who has served multiple tours in Afghanistan. He is the celebrity ambassador for the United Kingdom team, while “True Blood’’ star Alexander Skarsgard is the ambassador on the U.S. team. English actor Dominic West from “The Wire’’ is with the British Commonwealth team.
The teams hope to leave their base camp within the next day to begin their acclimation to the area and start their expedition across the Antarctic Plateau. The group hopes to reach the South Pole by Dec. 16.
Prince Harry partially trained for the event in September, spending the night in a giant freezer to get his body used to the extreme temperatures.
