Dan was always the kid climbing on top of stuff, before he even knew that rock climbing was a thing. After going to a climbing summer camp in 1998, he was hooked for life.
Dan spent nearly a decade climbing in the gym before venturing out onto real rock. His first few years outside were mostly spent bouldering and trad climbing under mentorship from a couple of friends he'd met at the gym. Before long, Dan was looking for ways to push himself to new levels, and that's when he found sport climbing. Since then, Dan has spent most of his time living out of a van, travelling around North America projecting hard sport routes and climbing nearly full-time. He has climbed nearly forty 5.14's and couldn't be happier than hanging at the end of a rope, working out the intricacies of every move on his next big project.
What’s your proudest climbing moment?
So many memorable moments. Getting the 2nd ascent of Solid Gold at Cathedral in Utah, 4 years after its FA was a pretty proud day. It's a better, more direct, more sustained version of Golden for a Moment, which is already a contender for one of the best 5.14s in North America.
What are you known for?
Sending hard with no training and a less than ideal diet. Maybe being able to rest on bad holds or finding sneaky new ways to do sections where I'm too short for the normal beta.
What’s a fun/weird fact about you?
I won a Canadian National Yo-Yo competition.
If you did any other sport what would it be?
I tried a few other sports when I was younger; snowboarding, skateboarding, mountain biking. I was always frustrated that in order to progress in those sports, the level of danger/risk had to go up as well. That's one of the reasons I love climbing so much. You can climb at an elite level without the danger having to increase along the way. You can also choose routes that aren't physically demanding but have a high level of risk and consequence. You get to choose, and I really like that.
What’s one thing you can’t live without?
Pizza
What’s your go-to post send action?
Celebratory beer (and pizza?)
Links:
https://www.instagram.com/dan.beland/
https://sendage.com/user/dan-beland
https://www.youtube.com/user/dbeland
https://www.facebook.com/danbeland
https://danbeland.com/