Image copyright Antarctic Gurkha Image caption Scott Sears arrived at the South Pole on Christmas Day 
 
 Tennis star Andy Murray's brother-in-law believes he has become the youngest person to reach the South Pole solo. 
 
 Scott Sears, a lieutenant in the First Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles, pulled a sled and supplies for 38 days through 150mph winds in temperatures of -50c. 
 
 His 702-mile trek ended at the South Pole on Christmas Day, more than 12 days sooner than he had anticipated. 
 
 The Guinness Book of Records has yet to confirm whether the 27-year-old's feat will make it into the record books. 
 
 Lt Sears, from east London, is the brother of Murray's wife, Kim. 
 
 From a family of tennis players, he played the sport on the international circuit until the age of 19. Several years later, he went on to join the Army. 
 
 'Not one more step' 
 
 The first part of the journey from Hercules Inlet where sea ice meets land in Antarctica is considered the most dangerous part, as the ground is riddled with crevasses. 
 
 Travelling alone meant Lt Sears was not roped up to a teammate who could stop him falling down them, and he used skis to cross the ice instead. 
 
 In a blog post from his five-week expedition, he described unexpectedly hitting a wall with just 38km (24 miles) to go on Christmas Eve, his penultimate day. 
 
 "I couldn't have asked for better weather but well and truly hit a wall midway through the day," he wrote. 
 
 "I've never experienced anything like it, I would take a couple of steps and just stop, everything was just saying 'no more, not one more step'. 
 
 "It was bizarre as I've genuinely been feeling pretty good." 
 
 But after some juice, biltong, chocolate and music on his iPod, he was back on his way. 
 
 That night, Lt Sears hung his socks up as makeshift stockings, but said he feared Santa might give them a miss because of the "state and stench" of them. 
 
 The following day, he reached the pole in blue skies, and wrote saying he was "absolutely chuffed to pieces". 
 
 He told the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday that he expected it would take a few weeks for the experience to sink in. 
 
 "I've been alone in a tent for nearly six weeks so it's all a bit overwhelming," he said. 
 
 "I can't wait to have a shower and get some food in me. I've been dreaming about it since day three!" 
 
 Image copyright PA Image caption Scott Sears with his sister, Kim 
 
 Judy Murray, Andy's mother, congratulated him, tweeting: "Well done Scott Sears - (brother of Andys wife Kim) youngest person to reach the South Pole on a solo mission. Got there on Christmas Day......" 
 
 Lt Sears has raised more than £33,500 for the Gurkha Welfare Trust to help rebuild schools in Gorkha, Nepal, which was destroyed in the 2015 earthquake. ||||| A serving British Army officer has become the youngest person to reach the South Pole on his own and unsupported, after trekking for more than five weeks. 
 
 Lt Scott Sears, the brother-in-law of Andy Murray, reached his destination on Christmas Day after negotiating 700 miles of Antarctic plateau, crevasse fields and glaciers. 
 
 The 27-year-old officer with 1st Bn Royal Gurkha Rifles raised over £30,000 for The Gurkha Welfare Trust and schools destroyed in the 2015 Nepal earthquake. 
 
 Waiting on Tuesday night for a plane to take him off the pole to Union Glacier, he said: “The last 5 weeks have been a huge challenge but I’m proud to be standing here now after 2 years of planning and training. 
 
 “It’s going to take a few weeks for everything to sink in, I’ve been alone in a tent for nearly 6 weeks so it’s all a bit overwhelming”. ||||| Prince Harry kept up morale on his trek to the South Pole by telling “filthy” jokes and building elaborate castle-style latrines, one of his fellow adventurers has revealed. 
 
 The Prince also celebrated reaching the bottom of the world by drinking champagne out of a prosthetic leg belonging to one of the wounded servicemen on his team - while others danced naked around the Pole. 
 
 Harry’s antics were disclosed by the actor Dominic West, who was the celebrity patron of one of three teams competing to reach the Pole first on the trek to raise money for the charity Walking With the Wounded. 
 
 He said: “It was cool having Harry there because he was very much part of the team. He seemed to specialise in building the latrines and he built these incredibly elaborate ones. 
 
 “He did one with castellated sides and a flag pole, a loo roll holder, and you’re sitting there thinking ‘this is a real royal flush’. He must have spent about 40 minutes making it. 
 
 “I remember thinking that he did art A-level and you can tell he is artistic.” 
 
 A clean shaven Prince Harry attends press conference for the Walking With The Wounded charity (REX FEATURES/PA) 
 
 The three teams, representing Britain, the US and the Commonwealth, had to dig latrine pits at each overnight stop during their journey, with a wall of snow around it to keep out the wind while people used it. 
 
 They reached the pole on Dec 13 after pulling sleds all the way to the pole with their supplies on them. 
 
 West, who was part of Team Commonwealth, said the Prince also told “eye-wateringly rude jokes, which for a non-soldier like me was quite shocking”. 
 
 He added: “He was very kind to me - when I was having trouble with the skis he helped me out and I thought what a nice guy.” 
 
 The three teams were initially competing to get to the Pole first, but when the Antarctic weather made conditions worse than expected they joined forces to make sure they all got to their goal safely. 
 
 West said: “When we got to the Pole a couple of the guys stripped naked and ran round the Pole. It was a sunny day with no wind so it was safe to do that. 
 
 “The Icelandic truck drivers who were driving the support vehicles had saved some booze for us to celebrate, so we had a bit of a binge, we were drinking champagne out of one of the team’s prosthetic leg.” 
 
 West said he had suffered mild frostbite on one cheek and other team members had been frostbitten on their fingers and ears, though none had needed surgery when they got home. 
 
 Prince Harry, 29, who has now shaved off the beard he grew during the trek, returned home in time for Christmas. 
 
 Harry said: “The conditions were a lot tougher than we necessarily could have expected. The wind and the storms proved horrendous. However, video doesn’t lie and Team UK did win. We did. Those are the facts. 
 
 “To the Australian contingent if you’re watching - sorry. 
 
 “On a serious note, inspiring others is one of the of the cornerstones of this charity, to demonstrate to those who have experienced life-changing injuries that everything is still possible. I hope this truly unbelievable achievement will remind everybody that they can achieve anything they want to. 
 
 “Our wounded, injured and sick do not want pity, they simply want to be treated in the same way that they were before they were injured, with respect and admiration. 
 
 “For some the journey may be more of a challenge and it falls to all of us to help them in any way we can.” 
 
 The Prince trekked to the Pole with four injured service veterans, including amputees. 
 
 One of his team, Sgt Duncan Slater, who lost both legs in Afghanistan in 2009, described using one of his legs as an ice bucket for the champagne the team drank to celebrate. 
 
 He said: "We pulled back from the Pole about 20km to wait for our flight and someone produced some champagne. I used my legs as a primitive ice bucket and wedged the champagne bottle in there and passed them around." 
 
 He said the Prince had been "absolutely brilliant", adding: "If we had a bit of spare time it would always be, right, we're going to have a game of cricket, or we're going to make a latrine but it's going to be like a castle, and it would always be him that was instigating it. He just fitted right in."
– While many people were unwrapping gifts on Christmas Day, the brother-in-law of tennis star Andy Murray was wrapping up a 700-mile, 38-day journey through brutally cold temps and blistering winds—and, he hopes, setting a world record. Scott Sears, 27, reached the South Pole on Monday, and he says he's the youngest person ever to do so solo, though Guinness has yet to offer its final seal of approval, the BBC notes. "MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE SOUTH POLE! Absolutely chuffed to pieces," he wrote on his blog, where he documented his unassisted adventure, which included temperatures of minus 58 degrees and wind gusts of up to 150mph. Sears said he was so tired when he finally took a rest after his trek that he fell asleep "within about 2 minutes of my head hitting the mat." Sears, whose sister, Kim, is married to the tennis star, describes a grueling expedition with icy, crevasse-marred terrain and an isolation made worse when the "iPod poltergeist" would occasionally strike, causing his music player to stop working. He says he "truly hit a wall" on Christmas Eve, where "everything was just saying 'no more, not one more step.'" But he devoured some dried meat, juice, and chocolate and pushed through, even hanging up his stinky socks as "makeshift stockings" for Santa that night. Sears' message from Andy Murray's mom once he arrived at his destination: "Well done Scott Sears." If Guinness confirms Sears' feat, he'll be three years younger than the previous record-holder, per the Telegraph. (Prince Harry drank champagne out of a prosthetic leg when he arrived at the South Pole.)