Briton to take on Everest - on a unicycle by JO STEELE - Sunday, September 14, 2008 It may be loved by clowns and jugglers, but the unicycle would hardly be the vehicle of choice for anyone tackling Mount Everest. Look, no hands: daredevil unicyclist Steve Colligan in New Zealand. Now he aims to beat Everest. Except for extreme unicyclist Steve Colligan... who intends to do just that to get into the record books. The father of two will have to overcome 5,000m (16,400ft) mountains, minus 15°C temperatures and negotiate the world's largest downhill ride, all on one wheel. His 1,000km (600-mile) ride across the roof of the world will take him along the backbone of the Himalayas from Lhasa in Tibet to Kathmandu in Nepal, via Everest base camp. Mr Colligan, who has been unicycling for eight years, has specialised in mountain unicycling - muni to aficionados - for six years. He has ridden down Snowdon five times, Scafell Pike in the Lake District twice and Ben Nevis (twice off-road) and along the Great Wall of China. But he describes this 25-day trip as 'my biggest challenge yet'. Mr Colligan said: 'This will be 1,000km of unicycling across five mountain passes over 5,000m high, with the biggest decent in the world, at 4,600m. The route will go via Everest base camp on the Tibetan side. 'Most the riding will be dirt roads, so I'm taking my distance unicycle, fitted with an off-road tyre. 'The second part of my trip to the Himalayas will be riding down many 5,000m peaks in Nepal.' The 47-year-old, from Manchester, is undertaking the feat next week to raise money to build a school in Nepal.His distance unicycle He added: 'This is going to be an extreme ride, but what an experience it will be.' To follow his progress see www.unicyclesteve.com
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