UVA student unicycles the height of Everest

Charlottesville’s own UVA student, Mason Allen, took on Mount Everest without leaving his hometown. Armed with a unicycle and unwavering resolve, he faced the famed “Everesting” challenge. This daunting quest involves climbing 29,032 feet—the height of Everest—by repeatedly ascending the same hill.

About the Everesting Challenge

According to a UVAToday article, Allen embarked on Nov. 2 at 5 a.m. He used a familiar loop on McCormick and Edgemont roads, entailing a 219-foot climb per lap. He pedaled 128 laps, covering 119.85 miles and achieving the required vertical ascent to complete the challenge. His journey, which he tracked on Strava, lasted 21 hours, with 18.5 hours actively unicycling, surpassing his previous maximum ride of four hours.

Allen conserved his phone battery by delaying music until hour 14, focusing instead on counting laps, which became challenging. Around the 13-14 hour mark, he faced severe ankle and knee pain, requiring longer breaks. Nevertheless, Allen never considered stopping.

Friends and local cyclists supported him, some even joining him for a lap or two. His trek concluded just minutes after a time shift from daylight saving time. Allen’s feat set a new unicycle Everesting record, shaving two hours off the previous record held by Ben Soja in 2018 on Mount Lowe.

Mason Allen’s background

With an athletic childhood in Crozet and a family that’s into triathlons, Allen’s passion for cycling began early. He received his first unicycle in middle school, and by 2020, he purchased a 26-inch Nimbis mountain unicycle. Allen is an active UVA Club Cycling member and participates in events like the Monster Cross gravel race in Richmond.

Apart from cycling, Allen majors in economics and English and plans to add a math minor. His English focus is poetry writing. “I don’t like boxing myself into a single field,” he told UVAToday, comparing the different problem-solving approaches in his areas of study.