Exactly ten years after the first ascent by Robert Jasper on 02/07/1998 I managed to repeat The Flying Circus onsight. Four pitches through the ceiling of a huge grotto, bolts only at the belay, graded M10.

I had had the idea for a long time. This winter I was lucky, since for this particular route many factors have to coincide: For instance, the route hadn’t formed for a few years. Therefore, it seemed like a miracle that the ascent was possible as there was almost no ice to be found any more this winter.

We reached the route at a perfect 23°F under blue skies. So Thomas Senf (also a guy from Saxonia who ended up in the mountains and is now on his way to becoming a mountain guide) and I started out to the Breitwangfluh.

Bad luck for us that the railroad was not working this year… So we managed the difference in altitude (3280 ft.) to the entrance with the support of a Jeep. With us was Rainer Eder, a photographer who was hoping to take some gorgeous pictures home.

When I found myself under this enormous roof covered with icicles that grinned at us like the teeth of a shark, my legs turned to jelly. Probably the result of a mixture of respect and excitement. In the reverb of our voices—like in a cathedral—I started to sing a piece by J.S. Bach from the times in the church chorus. This helped me find my feet. The spirits were good, the guys did a great job.

When I, still thirsty from the ascent, had the first sip out of my thermos, I almost choked on it—way too salty! Wait, what happened to me? The tea was undrinkable… Well, I guess I intended to use sugar instead. Now I entered this miracle of ice with a sticky mouth and a beating heart.

I climbed the first steps slowly and thoroughly, making sure not to make a mistake, since the protection here consisted only of some pitons, the rest has to be protected with ice screws. With every step that took me further away from the ground, I got more secure and soon was happy about having reached the first stance and having ascended the M9 pitch.

However, the next part was M10 with a 35-meter traverse with a slight ascent. By a fraction of an inch, I dropped my ice tool while setting an ice screw in the ice smear. Only with luck and coincidence it got caught by my hood, and right before it lost its footing I was able to grab it. Ooops… that was close! And so I went on in this icy crack with fine hooks. Here I reached the second belay onsight, happy about not having fallen, but with tired forearms. Thomas followed me quickly, a great job in a traverse. My thirst was almost unbearable.

Still, there were two more pitches of mixed before us, then this awesome route ended with a section of pure ice. Full of pride and with a “Jodler” gut we rappelled to the entrance of the route. Behind us was one of the most beautiful mixed routes that I have ever climbed.

Here I would like to mention how much I respect Robert Jasper who, with the opening of The Flying Circus exactly ten years ago, set a milestone in mixed climbing; this is particularly impressive when taking into account the difference between the technical level of climbing gear back then and today, and the general developments in ice climbing.

I’m almost apt to call this My Trilogy: apart from The Flying Circus I already managed Mach 3 (M9+, redpoint) and Crack Baby (a must-see for every pro) in 2005.