Where There's A Wheel There's A Way

Unicyclist who can reach 50mph and has ridden down 6000-metre volcano

Trekking across the world's harshest and most remote regions sounds like a tough enough challenge - but imagine doing the whole thing on a unicycle.

That's what Canadian Kris Holm has been doing in an unbelievable career which has seen him traverse the Great Wall of China and descend a 6000-metre volcano while riding on a single wheel.

And in 2010 Holm, who can reach speeds of 50mph, became the first unicyclist to reach the podium in an event against his two-wheeled cousins in the gruelling seven-day mountain BC Bike Race.

Kris Holm unicycles across the Great Wall of China. In 2010, the Canadian became the first unicyclist to reach the podium in an event against his two-wheeled cousins in the gruelling seven-day mountain BC Bike Race

As these breathtaking pictures show, he is not afraid of tackling any terrain - from perilous cliff edges to jagged mountain tops.

Mr Holm, 37, has travelled across some of the toughest terrains in the world, including Himalayan country Bhutan and the jungles of Bolivia.

Holm and his unicycle have travelled to some of the most remote regions of the world, including Himalayan country Bhutan and the jungles of Bolivia

He said: 'I do get some odd looks sometimes on my travels. They know me round where I live, but abroad people do give me funny looks.

'Actually in countries like Mongolia and Bhutan it wasn't necessarily because of the unicycle, they just shrugged me off as Western so I must be doing something weird.

'Some of them actually thought it was what Westerners do, ride unicycles all the time. If only that was the case.

'I have travelled on the Great Wall of China, descended down Licancabur, a 5950-metre volcano in Bolivia, and climbed the third highest mountain in North America.

'A unicycle can go just as many places as a two-wheeled bike. Obviously over a flat distance two wheels are faster, but actually up and down hill it doesn't make that much difference.

'I actually finished third last year in the BC Bike Race as the only competitor among 500 riders on one wheel, that was amazing.'

Holm started uni-cycling in 1986 aged just 12 after getting the bike as a present.

He said: 'I was like any kid, I just kept practicing and soon I was riding. Learning to ride a unicycle is just like anything else it's 95 percent practice.

'Where I live in Canada there is a lot of outdoors and I love to go out on the trials, so a lot of people are used to seeing me.

'When I first started unicycling I was probably one of the only people in the world to try and ride the same trials as two-wheeled bikes but now there are more and more people willing to give it a try.

'I also design my own unicycles which are made for those who want to give trialing a go, it's a lot cheaper than mountain biking to buy a unicycle so who knows maybe more and more people will do it.'

Holm has descended a 5950-metre volcano in Bolivia and climbed the third highest mountain in North America on his one-wheeled contraption

His talents saw him scoop the 2005 European, 2002 World, and 1999 North American unicycle trials championships.

Now he is planning to coax us all off to get off our bikes and onto one wheel in a brand new book about his adventures, Mountain and Trials Unicycling, set to be released this autumn.

He graduated with an MSc from the University of British Columbia in 2002, and works as a professional geoscientist in addition to managing his unicycling brand, www.krisholm.com.