Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Cozy Up in Canada on Valentine's Day for Invictus Games Countdown

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have arrived at the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025's One Year to Go celebrations

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are having a Valentine's Day to remember in Canada.

On Wednesday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped out for the start of the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025's One Year to Go celebrations. Bundled up in their winter gear for the below-freezing temperatures, the couple held hands as they made their way onto the snowy mountain to speak with athletes in adaptive skis and their guides.

Prince Harry got into an adaptive ski to try a run for himself.

The couple's presence on the slopes caught the attention of a family skiing nearby. "It's Harry and Meghan, Dad!" a teen boy yelled when he realized who was there.

Prince Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42, will spend the next three days meeting with members of the participating nations' Winter Training Camp organized before the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025. The camp brings together members of the international Invictus Community, including team managers, coaches and competitors, to experience winter adaptive sports before the official competition next year.

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The Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 will be the first winter edition of the competition through the introduction of winter sports. Next February, athletes can go for the gold in alpine skiing, snowboarding, biathlon, Nordic skiing, skeleton and wheelchair curling for the first time in addition to the core Invictus sports of indoor rowing, sitting volleyball, swimming, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby.

"As Invictus continues to adapt and evolve, I am extremely excited to announce that the Invictus Games Foundation has selected Canada to host the first-ever Winter Hybrid Games in 2025," Prince Harry said in a statement around the news.

Ivan Morera, who represented Team U.S.A. in Germany last year and will compete again in Canada, tells PEOPLE that he's learning how to ski and snowboard.

"I love to challenge myself just to build resilience and show that I'm still capable of being physically active even with my adaptation. I've had a great time here," he says.

Morera, who is a single-arm amputee following an incident while he was serving Afghanistan, says, "I look forward to meeting Prince Harry, just shaking his hand and, 'Hey, thank you for your service and thank you for this opportunity."

"I have a lot of respect for Prince Harry," he says. "I believe he understands the military personnel very well because of his experience in Afghanistan and his willingness to put his life on the line for his country. He has shown that to us by creating the Invictus Games, taking inspiration from the Warrior Games in the United States and creating an international competition."

Rosa Sanchez Bermudez, the Invictus Games' first female competitor from Colombia who was injured in her work as a police officer, tells PEOPLE on the ground in Canada, "Invictus Games are like a family."

She adds that while she competed in Germany last year, the winter training camp in Canada on Wednesday marked her first time meeting Prince Harry and Meghan. "I'm happy and proud about that," she says.

The Duke of Sussex, a former captain in the British Army, founded the international adaptive sports tournament for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans in 2014. Invictus means “unconquered” in Latin, and the competition’s motto “I am” comes from the William Ernest Henley poem of the same name, which ends with the lines, "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul."

“The poem is a reminder that you have the power to take control of your life," Prince Harry told PEOPLE in 2022.

Following cycles in London (2014), Orlando (2016), Toronto (2017) and Sydney (2018), the Hague (when COVID-19 pushed the event back to 2022) and Düsseldorf (2023), the upcoming cycle in Canada will be the first time the sports tournament has returned to a previous host country.

Canada is a special place for Prince Harry and Meghan on a personal level, and the Invictus Games marked an important moment early in their relationship. The two famously made their debut as a couple at the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto, where Meghan lived while filming Suits.

Related: Prince Harry Is Like 'One of the Guys,' Invictus Games Team USA Competitor Says (Exclusive)

Not only are Vancouver and Whistler close to the couple’s California home, but Vancouver is also a special spot for their family. Before stepping back from their royal roles in 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex spent their first holiday season as a family of three in 2019 with their son, Prince Archie, now 4, on Vancouver Island.

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Prince Harry and Meghan have been to Canada even more recently for Invictus-related engagements. In November 2023, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made a surprise appearance at the Vancouver Canucks hockey game tied to the upcoming Invictus Games. Prince Harry hit the ice and made the ceremonial first puck drop ahead of the match-up between the Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks, just like his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, did 21 years before.

During the same trip, Harry also scoped out some of the sites for the Canadian Games.

News of the couple’s trip for the Invictus kickoff was announced in early February, and accompanied by two new images of the Duke and Duchess from the 2023 Invictus Games in Germany. Snapped by their close friend Misan Harriman, the first black-and-white shot captured the couple walking with their arms around each other at the sitting volleyball finals, and the second showed Harry embracing a competitor with a warm hug.

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