Dan Hague

Dan Hague has nearly twenty-five years of experience in the

climbing wall industry including climbing facility ownership,

operation, management, risk management, safety management,

climbing wall and safety design, operational consulting and

training, as well as climbing wall instruction.

Dan is the Managing Partner of Climbing Wall Management,

LLC. Climbing Wall Management provides consulting

services with regard to climbing wall operation, safety, risk

management, design and training services to the climbing

wall industry including commercial climbing gyms, municipal

recreation centers, health and fitness clubs, and university

athletic facilities.

Previously, Dan was the President of Sportrock, Inc. from

October 1993 through December 2004. While he was President,

Sportrock, Inc. built and operated three climbing gym facilities

located in Virginia and Maryland and had over 1,000 members.

As President of Sportrock, he was responsible for the oversight,

design, construction, and management of three state-of-the-art

climbing facilities, the oversight and management of 80 employees,

strategic planning, advertising and marketing, as well as

matters relating to business and finance of the facilities. In 2008

Dan opened his fourth climbing facility in Lynchburg, Virginia

where he continues to coach, teach, and refine his methods.

In addition, Dan has also served as a Director, Chairman,

and Committee Member of the Climbing Wall Association

(CWA). This includes his position of Chairman of CWA’s Opervi

Artificial Climbing Wall Operation and Risk Management

ations Standards Committee, a position held from 2006 to 2014.

Responsibilities with regard to that position included leading a

committee of nine industry experts to draft, review, and revise

climbing wall and protective equipment, operations, and risk

management standards, as well as investigating and analyzing

research and data concerning climbing wall practices and

equipment. He also served as Chairman and Committee Member

of the Climbing Wall Instructor Certification Committee

of the CWA from 2009 to 2014, where he led a committee of 10

industry experts in drafting, reviewing, and revising climbing

wall instructor certification standards and procedures. In addition,

he was elected as Director of the CWA in July 2010 and

served until August 2012.

Dan has been climbing for over 40 years and teaching

climbing for 24. His coaching clients have included many

climbers in the junior divisions who have gone on to impressive

finishes in local, regional, and national competitions. He

developed the successful Fast Forward Progression, a series

of classes which have helped thousands of climbers acquire

climbing movement skills quickly and effectively. Through

these classes and careful observation he has spent years evaluating

how climbing is learned and has refined his instructional

programs accordingly, eventually resulting in the publication

of two well-respected books on climbing performance

improvement: The Self-Coached Climber and Redpoint, both

with Douglas Hunter.

Dan began work as an expert witness in climbing accident

lawsuits in 2006 and has since participated in over 50 cases.

Years of experience as a climbing facility operator combined

with extensive experience in accident suits have provided him

with a unique insight into best practices for climbing gym owners

and managers.

For more information please visit www.climbingwallmanagement.com.