Alan comes from Slovakia (former Czechoslovakia). He remembers being mesmerized by the peaks of the High Tatras since his very first visit, and he started climbing at the age of 14. By the ripe age of 16 he was already leading dubious rock routes using home made climbing shoes, home made pitons, and (almost) home knitted ropes. Alan’s climbing passion eventually brought him to freeing old aid routes in the Slovakian Tatras, climbing rock routes in the Alps and the Dolomites, doing a few long winter enchainments / mixed climbs around the Old Continent, and finally tasting the real Italian pizza. He was one of the pioneers of modern free climbing in Czechoslovakia in late 1970s and early 1980s, and he is credited for freeing many milestone multi-pitch rock routes in the High Tatras. Among other things, he did the second ascent of ‘Tempi Moderni’ on his beloved Marmolada in early July of 1984, and a rare ascent of then badly protected and mysterious ‘Amplesso Complesso’ in Val di Mello in 1985, both climbed fast and lightweight, in home made soft bedroom-slipper-type shoes, home made harnesses and without using cams.

Alan graduated in Electrical Engineering and Comparative Literature. In his academic studies and work he zoomed on film and literature and on the ways of adapting novels into films. He later blended his academic credits with his blasting climbing fire to create two mountain film festivals in Vancouver (Canada) and Bratislava (Slovakia). He has been running the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival since 1998, and the Hory A Mesto (Mountains and City) festival in Bratislava since 2000. Alan has been the Programming Director for the San Vito Climbing Festival in Sicily since 2010. He was also involved with the High Adventure Mountain Festival in Ogden, Utah, and at the Taos Mountain Film Festival.

Juror of the Film Competition in Ladek 2018.