BMW outdoor ambassador Stefan Glowacz heads out on the “Coast to Coast” expedition in the BMW i3.

Munich. The eternal ice and the steep cliffs of
Greenland are drawing professional adventurer and extreme climber
Stefan Glowacz into his next big project. On his spectacular “Coast to
Coast” expedition, the BMW outdoor ambassador will cross the island
from West to East by ski, sledge and sow kites and then free-climb an
unclimbed rock face. Glowacz, who will be accompanied on his
expedition by photographer Thomas Ulrich and his climbing partner
Philipp Hans, will also travel to his destination in an especially
sustainable way. The trio heads out from Munich in two BMW i3s (fuel
consumption in the legal EU test cycle: 0.0 l/100 km; combined power
consumption: 13.6/13.1 kWh/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 0 g/km)
with the first destination being Scotland. From there they travel to
the West coast of Greenland by sailboat where they will cross the
island by sledge presumably at the end of July.

Today BMW i product line manager Dr. Robert Irlinger handed over the
car keys as the starting signal for the approximately three-month
“Coast to Coast” expedition. The two fully packed BMW i3s are waiting
at BMW Welt to take the adventurers and their equipment to Scotland
emission-free at the local level. “Pioneering spirit and new
approaches are our daily motivation also at BMW i. This is why we are
supporting this project with great pleasure”, says Irlinger.

“Travelling the first leg of the journey in the BMW i3 is truly the
dot on the i making our project the almost perfect sustainability
expedition”, says Glowacz, who has reached many hard-to-access regions
of the world in a very environment-friendly manner to then free-climb
extremely demanding rock faces. “In our expeditions we have always
been trying for several years now to reach our selected rock face
under our own steam from the last outpost of civilisation.”  

The 53-year-old adventurer is undertaking the “Coast to Coast”
expedition and facing the unrelenting forces of nature in an
environmentally sound manner this time, too. Around two and a half
weeks are planned for sailing from the Scottish coast to the Western
shores of Greenland. Once there, Glowacz and his companions plan to
cross the largest landbound ice surface in the world from West to East
by kite-drawn sledges in around 30 to 40 days. A further two weeks are
planned for climbing a hitherto unconquered, up to 1000 meters high
rock face on the East coast of the island. Then the expedition members
will once again travel by sailboat back to Scotland stopping over in
Iceland and the Faroe Islands. “This route, which combines several
adventures, is how I image a modern adventure to look like”, says Glowacz.

He came up with the idea two years ago on his way to an expedition to
the Canadian Baffin Island. “We were flying over Greenland and I was
fascinated by the immense frozen surfaces and the sheer cliffs on the
East side of the island”, is how Glowacz recalls what inspired him to
go on this expedition. He is planning to return to Munich at the
beginning of October. If all goes well, he may even be back for the
start of the European Outdoor Film Tour 2018/2019 in October at BMW
Welt in Munich. Here he would report on his encounters with the rock
and ice of Greenland.

 

*The fuel consumption, CO2 emissions and electric power
consumption figures were determined according to the European
Regulation (EC) 715/2007 in the version applicable. The figures refer
to a vehicle with basic configuration in Germany. The range shown
considers the different sizes of the selected wheels/tyres and the
selected items of optional equipment, and may vary during configuration.

The values for the vehicles marked * are already based on the new
WLTP test cycle and have been translated back into NEDC-equivalent
values in order to ensure comparability between the vehicles. With
respect to these vehicles, for vehicle-related taxes or other duties
based (at least inter alia) on CO2 emissions, the
CO2 values may differ from the values stated here
(depending on national legislation).

The CO2 efficiency specifications are determined according
to Directive 1999/94/EC and the latest version of the Pkw-EnVKV, and
based (for classification) on the fuel consumption and CO2
values as per the NEDC cycle.

Further information on official fuel consumption figures and specific
CO2 emission values of new passenger cars is included in
the following guideline: ‘Leitfaden über den Kraftstoffverbrauch, die
CO2-Emissionen und den Stromverbrauch neuer
Personenkraftwagen’ (Guideline for fuel consumption, CO2
emissions and electric power consumption of new passenger cars), which
can be obtained free of charge from all dealerships and at https://www.dat.de/en/offers/publications/guideline-for-fuel-consumption.html.