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Adventures of the royal family

The royal family paddles, hikes, bikes and skiis—sometimes even for work
Patricia Treble
In this undated handout photo provided by Walking with the Wounded (WWTW) on December 3, 2013, Prince Harry leads his Team UK in Antarctica on day one of the South Pole Allied Challenge. The Virgin Money South Pole Allied Challenge 2013, of which Harry is patron, will see the participants race across three degrees to the South Pole. All 12 injured service personnel from Britain, America, Canada and Australia have overcome life-changing injuries and undertaken challenging training programmes to prepare themselves for the conditions they will face in Antarctica. Trekking around 15km to 20km per day, the teams will endure temperatures as low as minus 45C and 50mph winds as they pull their 70kg sleds to the south pole. (Victoria Nicholson/WWTW/Getty Images)
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In this undated handout photo provided by Walking with the Wounded (WWTW) on December 3, 2013, Prince Harry leads his Team UK in Antarctica on day one of the South Pole Allied Challenge. The Virgin Money South Pole Allied Challenge 2013, of which Harry is patron, will see the participants race across three degrees to the South Pole. All 12 injured service personnel from Britain, America, Canada and Australia have overcome life-changing injuries and undertaken challenging training programmes to prepare themselves for the conditions they will face in Antarctica. Trekking around 15km to 20km per day, the teams will endure temperatures as low as minus 45C and 50mph winds as they pull their 70kg sleds to the south pole. (Victoria Nicholson/WWTW/Getty Images)
In this undated handout photo provided by Walking with the Wounded (WWTW) on December 3, 2013, Prince Harry leads his Team U.K. in Antarctica on day one of the South Pole Allied Challenge. (Victoria Nicholson/WWTW/Getty Images)

Members of the royal family like nothing better than being active outdoors, and often the more extreme the situation, the better. Sometimes the adventures are even work-related. Princess Anne has trekked to refugee camps in remote, dangerous locales in the 46 years she has served as president of Save the Children. Her sister-in-law, Sophie, just finished a 720-km cycling trip for the Duke of Edinburgh Awards. Prince Harry spent considerable time taking part in the rough-and-tumble work of wildlife conservation in Africa.

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The Queen, 90, famously goes for long walks in the rough hilly terrain of her Scottish estate of Balmoral, oblivious to the horizontal rain and buzzing midges. Her 95-year-old husband, Philip, still competes in the sometimes-dangerous sport of carriage racing. Their son, Charles, thinks nothing of clambering up a steep path to paint one of his famous watercolours.

Sometimes it becomes a passion. In 1977, Prince Andrew canoed 800 km down the Coppermine River to the Arctic Ocean while a student here. He has regularly returned for long paddling trips in the territories with his school friends. Hiking and canoeing in B.C.’s wilderness is on Prince William and Kate’s tour this year.

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