During the four-week Antarctic expedition the racers will trek a total of 210 miles, drag sledges - known as pulks - weighing more than 150lb (68kg) and face temperatures as low as minus 45C along with savage 50mph winds. The Prince would expect to trek between nine and 13 miles each day, battle against extreme weather and encounter vast crevasses, moving ice-shelves, glaciers and snow storms. He said his career in the Army has given him a better understanding of charities for injured Armed Forces personnel and veterans. The Prince has been on a number of visits to hospitals and therapy centres where wounded servicemen and women are treated and rehabilitated. He said although he will leave the military "at some point," he will always keep the connection with Walking With The Wounded and the rehabilitation centre at Headley Court in Surrey. "They [wounded personnel] know that myself and my brother have got military experience, and being surrounded by other guys in the military, I like to think that you can speak to them on the same wavelength," he said. So I'll always have a connection with the wounded servicemen and women. And based on the fact that we'll be finished here [Afghanistan] in 2014-15, that's not where it ends. You think of how many people who have lost legs and lost arms - and also mentally as well - there's a lot of scars that are going to be left on a lot of people. And the support for that is going to be paramount for the rest of their lives. So even when this stops that's going to continue for them, and that's what we need to remember.