Extreme Unicyclist Takes On Mount Everest For Charity

46-year old Steve Colligan from Manchester, England who calls himself an 'Adventure Unicyclist' is about to embark on the most difficult and demanding ride of his life. On September 24th, will ride his unicycle across the The Roof Of the World, (Mt. Everest ), a 620 mile ride, to raise money to improve the life of the people living in the remote regions of the Himalayas.

Steve, an avid athlete who also competes in endurance races and long distance bike ride competitions, says that his favorite sport is unicycling, which he took up eight years ago. Since then, he has unicycled down the volcanoes in Peru, the Great Wall of China , New Zealand mountains as well as short rides in the Nepali Himalayas. He has also unicycled his way across all the mountain peaks in England.

Steve will start his ride from Lhasa, Tibet and head out toward the Tibetan peninsula, a 4,000-meter elavation. During this time he will cross five mountain passes with an elevation of 5,000-meters and nightly temperatures of minus 15 degrees centigrade. He will also have to set up camp each night, as this is a very remote area of the Himalayas. Once he gets to the top, he expects to rest for a day at the Everest Base Camp, and then head down, on the longest descent in the world - 4,500 meters. While descents are great fun and effortless for bikers, they are a lot of work for unicyclists who have to keep peddling all the way down to maintain their balance. In addition, Steve has to deal with the low oxygen levels due to the high altitude, which can result in nausea, back pain and fatigue. The whole adventure, including time to acclimatize is expected to take about 25 days.

In order to prepare for the ride, Steve has been training for the last nine months, riding about 100 miles on his unicycle every other day. While Steve will be the first unicyclist to do this route, mountain bikers who have done it, say it is the most difficult thing they have every done. However, Steve hopes all his training will pay off and is looking forward to the experience. In addition, he hopes to raise lots of money for the Hilly Region Development Club, a private organization, which is working to improve educational facilities and other amenities for people in the remote area of Katmandu, Nepal. To read more about Steve Colligan and his adventures, check out his website at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/steve.colligan/index.html

Sources: Telegraph.co.uk, Steve.colligan.com