A single up and down - his life is a roller coaster

At almost zero degrees, Stephan Mantler returns home, so to speak. He didn't hold his ticket under the scanner for a whole year, went through the turnstile, turned a bit left and right, and then stood in line in a rocky landscape reminiscent of Lord of the Rings. A Saturday morning in winter, and Mantler is finally back at Phantasialand in Brühl. He will soon be riding "Taron", a roller coaster that accelerates him to 117 kilometers per hour. But first: wait.

There aren't many people in Germany who ride roller coasters as often as the 43-year-old from Duisburg with the crew cut. On the coaster-count.com website, he is ranked 119th worldwide with 1038 different roller coasters (not roller coaster rides) he has completed. By his own count, he even comes up with 1225 roller coasters and 291 amusement parks. He has been to 30 countries and 27 US states, only missing Africa and South America.

It's not like he's only interested in roller coasters when he travels, but a few rides are part of it. He has ridden the highest roller coaster in the world (139 meters), the fastest (240 kilometers per hour) and the longest (2479 meters). Roller coasters made of steel and wood. Roller coasters where he hung under the rails. Where he sat next to the rails. In which he drove an inverted U vertically up and down again. His favorite is called Steel Vengeance and is in Ohio. If you look at a video of this train, you no longer know which is up and which is down. "Big change of direction, incredibly long and fast," says Mantler.

Like almost everyone who grew up in North Rhine-Westphalia, he visited Phantasialand as a child, and it probably would never have become a hobby if he hadn't had this experience in the Netherlands. At the age of 23, he rode the “Goliath” roller coaster in the Walibi amusement park, and “that first drop” after the first hill gripped him. That's when he felt "this feeling of freedom" for the first time, "at that moment I didn't think about anything at all". Again and again he lined up there that day. "I'm still looking for that kick, that freedom on every track today."

Mantler isn't alone in the queue at Phantasialand. Two friends are waiting with him in front of "Taron". Like him, they belong to the "Coasterfriends", an association of roller coaster fans in Germany, which also organizes trips to amusement parks. There was a year when Mantler was at Phantasialand 22 times, but in 2022 they abolished the annual pass.

A heavy blow for the community in Germany. Single entry costs between 50 and 60 euros. From Phantasialand it can be heard that they are working on a successor model for the annual ticket. But that is still a long time coming. The affection for this park is so great that Mantler and his friends even met in the parking lot of Phantasialand in Corona times, when all amusement parks were closed, just to reminisce a bit.

In the queue, he talks about a 24-hour challenge he once took part in. He lasted 21 hours on a wooden roller coaster in the Netherlands, with only short breaks, but then his circulation stopped. "They almost had to lift me off the train." But now "Taron". He estimates that he has ridden this track 800 to 900 times. It belongs to the so-called multi-launch coasters. Instead of being pulled up a hill as usual and then letting gravity do the work, the train is catapult-like accelerated on the flat right at the beginning and halfway through a second time, to 117 kilometers per hour. 1320 meters in just under 100 seconds.

Because space is traditionally scarce in Phantasialand, the rails cross over and under 58 times. When you drive “Taron” for the first time, the acceleration takes your breath away. You always have the feeling of being thrown out. A visitor says afterwards: "Actually, you have to ride the train twice because you're so shocked the first time."

Mantler, on the other hand, already knows all this. He just enjoys the ride, throwing his arms up like he always does because it makes him feel even freer. He has a kind of luxury problem: the fading effect. As with other addictions, the effect wears off over time, so you need to increase the dose. It's just that roller coasters can hardly be built any higher or go any faster. At some point, the forces that either press the roller coaster rider into their seat or lift them out of their seat become too great. Then there is a risk of unconsciousness or worse. There are roller coasters that Mantler only rides to be able to check them off. So that he eventually gets to 2000 different tracks.

But adrenaline is not the only reason for his hobby. There is also the contrast to his job. He works as a team leader at a health insurance company, where he bears responsibility. "I'm definitely normal at work. I can let go in the amusement park.” Later, when he and his friends run through an obstacle course that is aimed more at children, he gets involved, balancing over tree trunks, sliding, climbing. He is one of those people who can be photographed with Mickey Mouse at Disneyland. He has no children. "I am my own big child."

There is also the community. Mantler isn't actually in the park this winter's day for the roller coasters, although he'll be riding a few more: a mine roller coaster and one where he's hanging under the rails like he's flying. This day is much more of a meeting with friends. He sometimes writes “Phamilie” on Instagram, alluding to the name of the park.

Later he meets other members of the club for a beer at a bar table. They chat, ride rollercoasters in between, goofing around. A familiar, cherished routine, not as exciting as riding a roller coaster, but nice in a different way. Later he buys a bucket of churros and offers everyone something. Basically, he has no friends outside of the roller coaster bubble. "I really have to think about it now. I don't think so.” It's also difficult to maintain friendships when you spend so many weekends a year at amusement parks.

When he was so enthusiastic about the railways in the Netherlands at the age of 23, he couldn't find anyone who shared his interest. So the enthusiasm died down again. It was only about ten years ago that he came across the Coasterfriends website. He read travelogues, met some members for the first time at the Rheinkirmes in Düsseldorf. "After that, it happened to me," he says. "If you find like-minded people, nobody will call you crazy anymore."

Five days after visiting Phantasialand he traveled to Spain. A friend said he still had vacation days, Mantler noted: he did too. They wanted to be in the sun. Lisbon was considered and rejected. Because there is no roller coaster. Dubai was under discussion but too expensive for a few days. And Mantler has been there three times. So Spain, to the PortAventura amusement park on the Mediterranean coast. It has the highest roller coaster in Europe.