A SCOT has reached the South Pole at the end of a history-making 730-mile (117.4-km) trek — and was greeted with a celebratory pizza.

    Luke Robertson is the youngest Briton to achieve the feat solo, unassisted and unsupported. The 30-year-old, from Stonehaven, in Aberdeenshire, has also become the first Scot to achieve such an accomplishment.

    In an update relayed by his fiancee Hazel Clyne, she said Robertson — nicknamed “Luke Snowwalker” by his team — had achieved an “unbelievable” feat Thursday.

    “After 39 consecutive days, skiing 730 miles, history has been made!” she said. “Luke Snowwalker has reached 90 degrees South and become the first Scot and youngest Brit to ski solo, unsupported and unassisted to the South Pole!”

    Robertson, an Edinburgh finance worker, started his epic journey from Hercules Inlet 39 days ago.

    He has a metal plate in his head after brain surgery to remove an enterogenous cyst on the brain and a pacemaker in his chest, but that has never stopped his dream of walking to the South Pole.

    Robertson burned more than 395,000 calories and took more than 1,649,000 steps on his journey towards the pole in the temperatures that reach -50 degree Celsius. It was a comparatively warm -29 degree Celsius on Thursday.

    He has even battled Antarctica’s only insect, normally more associated with his native Scotland — the midge. But fortunately the frozen continent’s variety is flightless.

    In February last year, Robertson went to his doctor after experiencing severe headaches and problems with his vision.

    The following day, he was given a CT scan but not an MRI as Robertson’s pacemaker — which was fitted for a heart block a day after he finished university at the age of 23 — prevented this.

    He was told he had a suspected brain tumor, but it turned out he had a rare, non-cancerous, enterogenous cyst.

    Surgeons operated on him for five hours and removed a large part of the cyst, but a small section remains.

    While in the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, Robertson met cancer sufferers and was inspired by them to finally do something he had always wanted to attempt — venture to the South Pole.

    Inspired by Shackleton, Scott and Amundsen and — following his experiences in hospital and the heartache of losing his uncle to cancer — he was raising money for Marie Curie on his long walk across the ice.

    His fundraising target was £25,000 (US$35,879), but he has already raised over £45,000.

    Robertson had planned to drag more than 100 kg of his equipment across 730 miles of snow and ice for 35 days, experiencing temperatures of -50 degree Celsius.

    Unassisted and unsupported, he received no outside help, such as a resupply by air and no support from animals or vehicles.

    It was just Robertson on his skiis, with everything he took being dragged behind him, burning in excess of 10,000 calories per day.

    Every day, he consumed packets of freeze-dried food — ranging from Thai chicken to spaghetti carbonara — that he cooked on a stove.

    (SD-Agencies)