Extreme climber after heart surgery: “That was the happiest moment of my life”

Full of zest for action and anticipation – that’s how extreme climber Stefan Glowacz felt when he prepared for his wallride expedition in spring, which he carried out this summer with the Stuttgart climber Phillip Hans.

It was a more than 2000 kilometer long mountain bike tour across the Alps including two first ascents on walls up to 1000 meters high. So it’s not a piece of cake, not even for someone like Glowacz, who has already climbed big walls in the most remote places on earth and also crossed Greenland’s inland ice on foot.

Nevertheless, thanks to hard training at the beginning of the year, the 56-year-old felt fit and ready for his project. But suddenly everything changed. During a performance check at an athlete sports center, medical professionals noticed that something was wrong – there was a rapid drop in blood oxygen levels. “Until then, I actually felt fit and healthy and didn’t feel any restrictions at all,” Glowacz confirms in an interview with FOCUS Online.

Muscle bridge in the heart: “I was absolutely at risk of heart attack”

During a subsequent cardiac catheter examination, doctors discovered an abnormality in the heart that could have been fatal for him at any time: Glowacz suffered from a muscle bridge in which an important supply vessel had grown into the heart muscle. “So I was sitting on a powder keg and as a competitive athlete I was absolutely at risk of heart attack,” he says. Because the faster the heart beats under stress, the more the muscle compresses the vessel and cuts off the blood supply.

• Video tip for the wallride expedition:

When the doctors advised him to have an open heart bypass operation, which required a complete opening of the chest, the shutdown of the heart and the connection to a heart-lung machine, Glowacz waved it off. “Many have told me that after such a massive procedure you are no longer the same – the risks are enormous and the healing process is extremely tedious,” he says.

Four-hour minimally invasive surgery on the beating heart

Only when doctors at the University Clinic in Mainz suggested minimally invasive bypass surgery on the beating heart, in which a small incision is made under the chest and access through the costal arch, Glowacz agreed. In a four-hour operation at the beginning of March, the doctors docked the mammary artery under the ingrown vessel in order to secure the blood supply. Despite the minimally invasive method, it is still an enormous intervention.

“For the first time in my life, I didn’t know whether I would ever be able to do competitive sport again afterwards,” says Glowacz, describing the situation. A deeply depressing thought for someone who lives to push their limits. “Climbing and mountaineering are not hobbies for me, but the purpose of my life,” he explains.

First training attempt four days after the operation

Nonetheless, the op went well. When the doctors assured him that his heart was fully resilient again and that he could slowly start training again after the wound had healed, the way was clear for Glowacz: get fit again as quickly as possible so that he could start his expedition in June. That was his goal.

Just four days after the operation, he released himself from the clinic – and that same evening he made his first careful training attempt. He sat on his bike on the roll in the basement at home. “That wasn’t a good idea – I felt dirty at night, woke up drenched in sweat, had a racing heart and brutal wound pain,” he admits.

Only with a training developed by medical professionals was he able to slowly build up his stamina again. “That was a good thing because I would probably have overdone it myself,” admits Glowacz. Still, it was a tough road for the athlete, who was used to having his body function: “I have to atone for it if I went too far,” he admits.

Wallride start hung by a thread

That he actually set off on his wallride expedition with Philip Hans on June 25th surprised Glowacz himself. “Above all, Glowacz could hardly prepare at all for climbing – because of the wound and the pectoral muscles that had been severed for the operation.

As was to be feared, massive physical problems became apparent in the first few days after starting from his home on Lake Starnberg. “I was immediately on the stop – on the first inclines I thought it would tear my upper body apart,” he describes his ordeal. “I always had the feeling that I couldn’t breathe.”

Moments of happiness in the Dolomites – “I could breathe freely again”

Only with an iron will and the support of Phillip Hans, who consciously reduced the pace and took his troubled partner into consideration, did Glowacz nevertheless reach the first wall in the eastern Dolomites after more than 400 kilometers and 9,000 meters of altitude: the Croda Bianca. Despite the wind and fog, the two managed to make a first ascent on this difficult 800 meter high wall within two days.

An unforgettable experience for the two climbers – and a turning point for Glowacz, who actually wanted to break off the tour because of his complaints. “Suddenly I was able to breathe much more freely again and returned to a normal state, just as I knew it from myself before,” he says. When the two of them got back on their mountain bikes to continue the arduous tour of up to 1000 meters a day in the direction of Switzerland, Glowacz felt like a newborn: “The fact that I was able to grind myself properly again was one of the happiest moments of my life,” he enthuses .

Feelings of happiness and sadness rolled into one – returning home after two months

After climbing another big wall in France, the Pic de Bure, the two adventurers returned safely to Glowacz’s home in Berg on Lake Starnberg on August 30th after more than two months, more than 2000 kilometers and more than 50,000 meters of altitude.

Despite the great joy about the successful expedition, about the shared moments and about the recovery, it was also a bitter moment for Glowacz: “When you experience such an intense time and so many happy moments despite sometimes the most adverse conditions, you are always sad that it is over is, ”says the adventurer.

The first ascent on the Wetterhorn in Switzerland planned as part of the Wallride, which was not feasible due to the bad weather, is what the two of them have planned for next summer. Until then, Glowacz wants to do what he was previously unable to do because of the operation: training properly for climbing again.