You know that dude who can do just about anything? We all know one. He’s at ease on his snowboard, skateboard, dirt bike, whatever. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time. And wherever he’s at, that’s always the place to be. He never gets shook, is always psyched and constantly spewing positivity. He’s the kind of kid your parents probably hoped for. Oh and he’s comfortable talking to girls. He has a way of floating through life. Everything seems easy.

That’s Danimals. 

Full name: Daniel James Liedahl. Friends call him Dan. Mom calls him Danny. He grew up in Eden Prairie, a suburb of Minneapolis. His mom, Debra, is a high school teacher and his dad, Bryan, is a freelance artist. He’s got a little sister too, named Laura. Two cats, one dog and a lizard.

He doesn’t remember exactly how he ended up with the nickname, just that one day at Hyland Hills some kid called him Danimals and it stuck. He’s down. He likes being Danimals. Hyland Hills is his home mountain. He has Hyland to thank for the stage name, his closest homies, his style and skill. He’s a product of that place. And for that matter, greater Minnesota. He’s polite, modest and wise beyond his years. Some say he’s an old soul. 

But he’s still young. Only 25 years old. It’s easy to forget that sometimes. He’s been getting paid to snowboard for about four years now. Two summers ago, he turned officially “pro” and got his name on a snowboard. And just two summers before that, he was watching his first part in a Videograss movie. All this happened at Mt Hood in Government Camp, OR. Dan’s come out to ride at High Cascade Snowboard Camp for a handful of years now. He loves it and says he can’t imagine summers without a trip to Oregon. 

That’s where we met up for a couple days in July and this is the conversation we had one afternoon in Govy. Among other things, we talked about growing up in Minnesota, finding calm while wrenching on dirt bikes and why easy style does it for Dan…

Subscribe to start your collection of The Snowboarder’s Journal.