A very cool Prince! Harry takes to ice chamber to train for polar trek with injured veterans

He has always been the 'action man' of the royal family, but Prince Harry has taken on his toughest challenge yet.

The royal, who turned 29 last Sunday, has just spent 24 hours in a giant freezer to simulate the gruelling conditions he will face when he treks to the South Pole this winter.

Harry will take time off from his day job as an Apache helicopter pilot in the Army Air Corps to compete with a group of injured British servicemen and women in the Walking With the Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge.

The group practised putting up tents and using cross trainers inside British engineering design specialists MIRA's whole-vehicle environmental test chambers

Prince Harry braved the icy conditions during a cold chamber training exercise with the 'Walking with the Wounded' South Pole Allied Challenge 2013 British team

Get used to the cold: The youngest Prince rubbed his hands for warmth as he prepares for the South Pole

Over 15 days in November and December, the fourth in line to the throne and his team will race against rivals from the United States and the Commonwealth to the southern-most point on the globe.
The marathon charity effort will see them travel a distance of 208 miles, in temperatures of up to minus 50 degrees – all while carrying custom built arctic sledges known as pulks, weighing in excess of 11 stone.
It is no mean feat considering each of Harry’s four team-mates have amputated limbs after sustaining horrific injuries in Afghanistan.
On Monday the tightly-knit group were subjected to the cold chamber at a training facility in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, where cars and military vehicles are normally put through their paces.

They had to ski for up to two hours at a time before taking a brief 10 minutes and then repeating it again all over again

Challenge: Prince Harry joins member of the British Team taking part in the Walking With The Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge on a training day in a -35C weather simulator

During their training, the team were subjected to ambient temperatures of minus 35C, with wind speeds of 45mph - which caused the thermometer to plummet to minus 55C.
Dressed in his cold weather gear, Harry had to practice putting up his tent, eating, sleeping - and even going to the toilet – all while learning how to avoid frost-bite in the inhospitable Antarctic climate.
The team members were also given a cross trainer each in order to recreate the sheer physical exertion they will face pulling their pulks across the barred Antarctic landscape.
This involved them ski-ing for two hours at a time, with a break for ten minutes, over and over again for 12 hours solid.
Rubbing his hands in a vain attempt to warm up as he finally exited the chamber this morning, Harry joked that the worst part of his experience had been ‘going in’.
Then it was time for a quick cup of coffee and a chocolate biscuit, before heading back off to work.

Prince Harry defrosts after spending the night in a cool chamber

Tricky: Prince Harry and Team Glenfiddich attempt to construct a tent while wearing thick gloves in -35C

Prince Harry eats a biscuit after a cold chamber training exercise. Harry practised with the clothing he will wear on the 200-mile expedition and learned how to avoid frost-nip and frost-bite in the inhospitable climate in Antarctica

Don't eat them all at once! The prince will joins wounded service personnel from Britain, the United States and the Commonwealth to race 335km to the South Pole in November

The British team are fundraising for the Walking With The Wounded charity, of which the prince is patron, which raises money to re-train service personnel who are wounded, injured or sick, and assisting them to find a career outside the military.  
Harry was determined to join the expedition after missing out on an attempt to conquer Mount Everest with the group last year because of his military commitments.
He was also forced to withdraw early from a successful North Pole expedition to attend his brother's wedding in 2011.
The royal shared a tent on Monday night with Captain Ibrar Ali, 36, who lost his right arm in a roadside bomb blast in 2007, and Major Kate Philp, who chose to have her left leg amputated after her Warrior armoured vehicle struck an IED (improvised explosive device) in Musa Qala in Helmand Province in 2008.

The Prince, who is a patron of the Walking With The Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge, will take part in a 24 hour Cold Chamber Training Exercise with the British Team

New home: Prince Harry and a member of Team Glenfiddich can be seen carrying equipment into the cold room which became their home for 24 hours

Maj Philp, from Knightwick in Worcestershire, said Harry was a ‘good extra pair of hands’ during the training exercise.
The 35-year-old Royal Artillery officer added: ‘He's experienced at this, having spent some time at the North Pole. He knows what he's doing. He's got his military training, and it's very, very easy, so he's a good extra pair of hands.’
Oxford graduate Maj Philp, who still serves with 3 UK Division in Bulford, Wiltshire, said the team was bonding well.
‘The reality is definitely dawning now, and certainly having experienced what we've just experienced here at Mira [training facility] it's really put it into sharp focus for us,’ she said.
To support Walking With The Wounded, click here.

Prince Harry has joked he 'will have a brew ready' at the Pole for the other teams taking part in the race

On November 16 the team will fly to Cape Town, South Africa, before flying to Novo, Antarctica, where they will spend a few days checking kit and acclimatising before being flown to begin the race

Test: The team had to work together to set up camp - just like they will have to in the South Pole

Training venue: British engineering design specialists MIRA's whole-vehicle environmental test chambers in Nuneaton, Warwicks, where the teammates attempted constructing their tents in conditions similar to the South Pole

Prince Harry formed part of the Walking with the Wounded expedition team in 2011. He is pictured testing an immersion suit on the island of Spitsbergen, in preparation for their walk to the North Pole

Under the patronage of Prince Harry, the Walking With The Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge launched on 19th April 2013