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.