With the Antarctic season winding down, it's almost time to start looking ahead to the North Pole season which will come in the spring. Much like their Antarctic counterparts, Arctic explorers will head North across vast ice fields in hopes of reaching the Pole via skis. This year, there may be a royal adventurer going along for the journey.
According to this story from AOL News, Britain's Prince Harry is hoping to join a 200-mile trek to the North Pole, which is set to get underway in late March from the Siberian side of the Arctic. The expedition will include four disabled vets and is being sponsored in part with the Walking with the Wounded Organization, for which Harry is a patron. The vets would be joined by two other army officers, as well as a polar guide. The journey is expected to take roughly four weeks to complete.
Harry, who has served in Afghanistan, is currently training to become an Apache helicopter pilot and would have to get special leave in order to go on this adventure. His publicity office says that Harry would "very much love to join the expedition," but the prince is waiting for approval from his superiors.
The article also says that the team would hope to reach the North Pole around April 23rd, which is just six days before Harry's brother, William, is getting married. Considering how unpredictable arctic travel can be, that might be cutting it a bit close. How upset do you think the Queen would be if Harry isn't on hand for the ceremony?
While I'm not a huge fan of the British monarchy, and don't really understand the fascination with the royals, I do think that this is very cool for Prince Harry. I think it would be fantastic if he could join the expedition, and it seems that he would be going for a very worthy cause. More power to him!