A renowned climber from Alaska tragically lost his life after falling from El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, marking the park’s third fatality of the summer.
Balin Miller, 23, died in a climbing accident Wednesday, his mother Jeanine Girard-Moorman confirmed.
“He started climbing as a child,” one person mentioned. “Climbing was his true passion; it was never about money or recognition.”
This incident occurred on the first day of the federal government shutdown, leading to “generally” open national parks with limited services and closed visitor centers, as per the National Park Service. The service did not respond to emails for comments, leaving uncertainties about staff presence in Yosemite during the shutdown.
El Capitan is a prominent feature in Yosemite, featuring a massive granite face rising roughly 3,000 feet (915 meters). This landmark is a popular destination for big-wall climbers globally. In 2017, Alex Honnold made history with the first free solo climb of El Capitan, captured in the documentary “Free Solo.”
Social media was flooded with tributes to Miller, with many sharing how they had watched his climb on a TikTok livestream over two days before the fatal accident. He became known as the “orange tent guy” for his unique camping setup.
This year has seen other tragic events in the park, including the death of an 18-year-old from Texas who fell while free-solo climbing a different route, and in August, a 29-year-old woman lost her life after a tree branch struck her while hiking.
While it’s still unclear exactly what happened, his older brother, Dylan Miller, said Balin was lead rope soloing – a way to climb alone while still protected by a rope – on a 2,400-foot (730-meter) route named Sea of Dreams. He had already finished the climb and was hauling up his last bit of gear when he likely rappelled off the end of his rope, Dylan said.
Miller was an accomplished alpinist who had already gained international attention for claiming the first solo ascent of Mount McKinley’s Slovak Direct, a technically difficult route that took him 56 hours to complete, he posted on his Instagram in June.
He grew up climbing in Alaska with his brother and their father, who was also a climber. While Dylan took a little more time to fall in love with the sport, it stuck with his younger sibling instantly.
“He said he felt most alive when he was climbing,” Dylan Miller said. “I’m his bigger brother but he was my mentor.”
This year, Balin Miller had also spent weeks solo climbing in Patagonia and the Canadian Rockies, ticking off a notoriously difficult ice climb called Reality Bath, which had been unrepeated for 37 years, according to Climbing magazine.
“He’s had probably one of the most impressive last six months of climbing of anyone that I can think of,” Clint Helander, an Alaska alpinist, told the Anchorage Daily News.
But this most recent trip to Yosemite wasn’t supposed to be hard climbing. Miller had just arrived two weeks early to climb and enjoy the park’s beauty and solitude before the rest of his family, who planned to meet up there.
More than just a climber, he loved animals and was fun, kind and full of life, his mother said.
He often climbed with a stripe of glitter freckles across his cheekbones, describing it in a Climbing magazine interview like “a warrior putting makeup on before going into battle.”
“He has inspired so many people to do things that are perhaps unthinkable, including myself. I can’t imagine climbing ever again without him,” his brother said.
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