When Bermudian Richard Talbot decided to trek across one of the coldest places on Earth, he quickly found that working out in the gym was not enough to prepare.

Knowing he would have to pull a 90lb sled packed with food, fuel and other provisions necessary to survive Antarctica, he took to dragging a large tire around his Toronto neighbourhood. He received many curious stares.

“It was a very good way of getting to meet people,” the 60-year-old laughed.

Some people thought it was cool, while others thought he was plain crazy.

Mr Talbot has lived in Canada, on and off, since his teen years. He trained as an accountant and worked in a bank for most of his life.

When he left that six years ago he decided to see the North Pole, and then follow it up with the South Pole.

“When I went to the North Pole in 2019, it was to raise money for Outward Bound Canada,” he said. “The South Pole trip did not have a charitable arm.”

He wanted to make the journey because it was so unusual.

“Few people have a chance to do it,” Mr Talbot said. “Antarctica is one of the last really pristine places on the planet.”

Last January, after six months of readying himself, Mr Talbot left on a South Pole Last Degree ski expedition led by a company called Mountain Professionals.

He and a group of ten, plus two guides, set off from Punta Arenas, the southernmost city in Chile.

From there they flew three and a half hours to a base camp on Union Glacier in Antarctica.

“There, we got all our gear and went through a few dry runs,” he said. “We were at about 2,000ft of elevation at that point.”

From there they flew up to the polar plateau, at 9,000ft, in a vintage DC3 propeller plane that had once dropped troops off at the Battle of Normandy during the Second World War.

“You land in the middle of wilderness – wherever the pilot can put you down,” Mr Talbot said. “There is no runway or radar. The pilot lands based on eyesight, so the weather has to be very good.”

They spent the next eight days travelling across 60km of frozen landscape. It was the height of summer in the southern hemisphere when they arrived. Winter sets in February.

“As soon as you land, your gear goes out of the plane, you get out and you and your group are on your own,” he said.

They wore five layers, except while putting up or taking down their tents when they added a heavy parka.

Mr Talbot said: “The biggest danger when you are doing polar exploration is moisture. If you sweat through your feet or clothing and that freezes, you have problems.”

On their feet they would don very thin socks. Those were wrapped in plastic to capture any moisture.

From there they put on ski socks and over that went boots that could handle temperatures of -22F to -40F.

The temperature was 19.4F at base camp and -13F on the polar plateau. At that time of year there was constant daylight so the temperature did not fluctuate, but the winds did.

“It can be extremely blustery, because there is no shelter,” Mr Talbot explained. “The winds emanate at the poles, so they can be very, very strong. However, we were fortunate that the winds were a very modest 10km/h.”

They had clear blue skies every day except the day they reached the South Pole when there were whiteout conditions.

“There was no wildlife at all,” he said. “There were no trees and no people, besides us. You would only find wildlife right near the coast.”

Until this trip, he had not realised the sheer size of Antarctica – 5,500,000 square miles.

“The United States and Mexico could easily fit into Antarctica leaving room to spare,” Mr Talbot said.

The hardest thing was sleeping.

“You have 24-hours of daylight, it is -13F and you have limited oxygen because you are 9,000ft up,” he said. “There is also a mental element to things, having the stamina to persevere to the end goal.”

They skied about 17km a day.

“Everyone found it a challenge, but it was manageable,” he said. “We gained about 600ft of elevation every day. The pole was at 9,300ft.

“It was relatively flat, but there were some parts where you would go into a little bit of a valley and then and then come back up.”

Some days were more challenging than others.

“It was not a walk in the park,” he said. “At the end of the day, we were exhausted.”

However, he never doubted he could do it.

“It was amazing when we finally reached our destination,” Mr Talbot said. “The first thing you see of the pole is the United States research station, which is a big long building. About 100 people are based there during the summer.”

The group did not get to meet the researchers.

“They have not allowed outsiders inside the station since Covid-19 began,” Mr Talbot said. “So we just pitched our tent about a kilometre from the station.”

He found many similarities between travelling to the North and South Pole, but the trip to the “last degree” was more challenging, for him, because of the elevation involved.

“The North Pole was basically at sea level,” Mr Talbot said. “You were skiing on frozen ocean that could melt in the summer.

“In the South Pole, extra elevation meant you had less oxygen. You really had to focus on pacing yourself. You had to remember that it is not a race. It was also warmer at the North Pole.”

Now that the arduous trek is over, Mr Talbot has no idea what adventure he will undertake in the future.

“I am going to let this one settle, for a little bit,” he said. “Then I will do my research to see what the next trip will be.”