Balin Miller, Alaskan climbing star falls to his death while live-streaming El Capitan steep vertical ascent at Yosemite National Park.
A popular Alaskan climbing influencer fell to his death while live-streaming his scale along El Capitan, a famous vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park.
Balin Miller, 23, fell during his climb on Wednesday, his mother Jeanine Girard-Moorman confirmed to the Associated Press.
Rappelling accident claims the life of rising climbing star
‘He’s been climbing since he was a young boy,’ she told the outlet. ‘His heart and soul was truly to just climb. He loved to climb and it was never about money and fame.’
Miller who had been live-streaming his ascent on TikTok led to some of his followers expressing shock and dismay.
One fan who had been following Miller’s journey over four days revealed she was watching online when the climbing influencer tragically fell.
‘He made it to the summit but he had to retrieve his bags as they got stuck on a rock as he was hoisting them up. As he was trying to retrieve the bags he fell to his death all caught on the livestream,’ Michelle Derrick posted on Facebook.
Commented a fellow Facebook user, ‘It was definitely hard to watch.’
According to Yosemite photographer Tom Evans who was chronicling Miller’s progress, he descended his rope without realising it would not reach the bag’s location. He rappelled off the end of the line and fell he posted on Facebook.
The National Park Service said in a statement that it is investigating the climbing accident and added that ‘park rangers and emergency personnel responded immediately’.
Rappelling accidents are among the most common causes of death in the sport. The American Alpine Club recorded eight such fatalities in 2023.
Alaskan climbing star feats
Miller’s death came on the first day of the government shutdown, though national parks like Yosemite remained ‘generally’ open with limited operations, according to NPS.
El Capitan, which Miller was climbing, is among the most prominent landmarks in the over 1,000-square-mile Yosemite park.
The granite rock face towers approximately 3,000 feet in the air and was only conquered by a free solo climber for the first time in 2017.
According to his older brother, Dylan Miller, ‘Balin felt most alive when he was climbing.’
Balin spent much of his time as a child growing up in Alaska climbing with his brother and his father, who was also a climber.
Miller quickly became a well-known alpinist. Known by his nick-name, ‘Orange Tent Guy’, Balin gained worldwide acclaim in June for managing to ascend Mount McKinley’s Slovak Direct, an incredibly difficult route that took him 56 hours to complete.
Miller also spent time climbing in Patagonia and the Canadian Rockies, where he made it to the top of an ice climb called Reality Bath, a feat that hasn’t been done in 37 years, according to Climbing Magazine. It took him seven days.
Miller’s Instagram page, which has more than 4,720 followers, is now full of tributes from both people who knew him and people who simply admired his stunning athleticism and courage.
