Think the art of the unicycle is destined to stay under the big top? Don’t say that to Lutz Eichholz. He’s not into makeup, and there’s nothing funny about the way he rides a unicycle. Eichholz, 26, from Kaiserslautern, Germany, is a rare breed. He can balance better than almost anyone on earth, and he uses this talent in the mastery of a form of transportation that few have even attempted.

Have you ever tried to ride a unicycle? If so, then you know how difficult it would be to ride 26 feet over a single-file line of glued-together beer bottles, a feat that put Eichholz into the Guinness World Records last year. Mountain unicycling is no less challenging. In the video above we see Eichholz and fellow rider Stephanie Dietze take on Cima Ombretta Orientale, a 3,011 m peak in the Dolomites.

Who needs 2 tires and handlebars to maintain control while flying down a rocky ridge? Eichholz and Dietze clearly don’t, and they won’t be joining the circus.