Stefan Glowacz was born March 22, 1965 and lives in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. The father of three children, Stefan has for years been one of the world’s leading climbers. At the age of 15 he took an Alpine Club climbing course and was immediately fascinated by the sport. During the following years Stefan climbed extensively in the local Wettersteingebirge. After high school, the rock enthusiast completed an apprenticeship as a toolmaker and in 1985 won Sport Roccia in Bardoneccia, Italy – the first sport climbing competition ever held. Three times he was the winner of Italy’s most prestigious climbing contest, the Arco Rock Master event (1987, 1988, 1992). In addition to placing first in the unofficial demonstration competition in the Albertville Winter Olympics, Stefan won victories in countless master tournaments. In 1993 he became vice world champion in Innsbruck and decided to end his competitive career with this success. Since then, Stefan has been focusing on the challenges of natural rock. In 1994 he could claim the first ascent of Des Kaisers neue Kleider in the Kaisergebirge, one of the most difficult alpine sport climbing routes in the world, which is still waiting for a repetition. But it was through a series of exceptional expeditions to the most remote and difficult mountain walls on the globe that Glowacz managed to draw attention to his activities. On the approaches to his goals, Stefan and his friends consciously renounced all means of motorized transportation such as helicopters, planes or skidoos, even doing without airdrops for food and equipment. They transported everything they needed for these expeditions under their own steam “by fair means”. One trip took them to Canada. Here Stefan and his team covered 1000 kilometers – partly along the South Nahanni River in an inflatable canoe and partly on foot. Their goal was the 700-meter spire of Mt. Harrison Smith, where the four adventurers completed a demanding first ascent before bushwhacking and paddling back to civilization. In 1999 Stefan Glowacz and five other teammates set off for Antarctica. On board of the 14 meter yacht “Santa Maria” the “Rock and Ice Expedition” negotiated the notorious Drake Passage, one of the world’s most challenging crossings for a non-motorized sailboat. This did not stop the team from completing the first ascent of the Renard Tower via its 900 meter high north face. For five days the climbers battled difficulties up to grade 9 (5.12 b) on the wall. Another journey led Stefan and his squad to Baffin Island. In sea kayaks they fought their way along the coast against high swells, strong winds and polar bears. They accomplished a fantastic first ascent on the 700 meter high Polar Bear Spire. The vast ice fields of Patagonia were the scene for Stefan’s latest success. Accompanied by the professional ice climber Robert Jasper and the photographer Klaus Fengler, Stefan pulled off the first ascent of The Lost World on the north pillar of Murallòn in December 2003. A laborious approach, in which the entire equipment had to be lugged some 40 kilometers to the foot of the wall without porters, drained the team’s strength. For weeks, the mountain was enshrouded in clouds and horrendous gales tested the moral fiber of the three climbers huddled in an ice cave at its base. In the end, they turned out to be at the right place at the right time: In a window of good weather lasting no more than 20 hours, the party climbed the 1100 meter high north spur in alpine style. The arduous ascent took a little over 12 hours with difficulties up to M8 in mixed terrain and 7+ (5.10c) on the free climbing pitches. After reaching the summit, the team spent 14 hours rappelling the same route at night in a snowstorm. In addition to his athletic accomplishments and the numerous printed and televised documentations of his expeditions, Stefan Glowacz played one of the lead roles in Werner Herzog’s Schrei aus Stein; he also acted in Fire Ice and Dynamit directed by Willy Bogner as well as in Kletterkrieg, a sequel of the Wildbach series. Together with his friend, the photographer Uli Wiesmeier, Stefan coauthored Rocks around the World; the same duo shot The Race in 2003, an award winning short film. With Wolfgang Pohl he wrote the instruction manual Richtig freiklettern. Stefan’s most recent book project was Hoch hinaus, written with business consultant Kai Pfersich. At present Stefan Glowacz is working on a book that will be published in spring of 2005.