Re: This guy makes climbing look easy!
With Dan, something like that happening was inevitable: He kept pushing the limit; and eventually he found it.
Bear's Reach isn't technically a difficult climb, it's a 5.7, but the exposure ups the commitment level significantly to make a solo endeavor a serious task indeed.
Remember, none of the above is free-soloing extreme grades: the climbers have done those routes many, many times before, and the routes themselves are quite simple with good holds. It's the lack of protection that makes absolute focus on the task a necessity.
In my experience that kind of climbing favors a lack of imagination: It's best not to think too much beyond what you are doing while you are doing it.