Rock Climbing Star, Twenty-Three, Loses Life After Plummeting from Yosemite National Park's El Capitan
An Alaskan climbing influencer has died after falling from the famous vertical rock face, a celebrated granite cliff in California's Yosemite National Park.
Balin Miller, twenty-three, was live-streamed on TikTok climbing up and subsequently falling from the massive rock on Wednesday.
In an emotional social media post announcing her son's passing, his mother expressed: "I am devastated in a million pieces. I have no idea how I will get through this. I adored him deeply. I want to wake up from this horrible nightmare."
Circumstances of the Tragedy
Details of the cause behind the incident are unclear, but his sibling a family member revealed he was engaging in solo climbing with a rope - a technique that enables climbing alone while still protected by a safety line - on a 730m route named the Sea of Dreams route.
He had finished the ascent and was hauling up equipment when he likely descended past the end of his line, according to his brother.
A Yosemite-based photographer who witnessed Miller fall reported he called 911 after the climber tried to free his backpack, which was snagged on a stone.
Background of the Adventurer
Originally from Alaska, the young alpinist grew up climbing with his dad and brother.
He was an skilled alpinist and earned international attention for achieving the first solo ascent of Denali's Slovak Direct route, which took him over two days to complete, according to a update on his social media in June.
"He experienced probably one of the most impressive recent half-year of alpinism of any climber I can recall," experienced mountaineer Clint Helander informed a local newspaper in mid-summer.
Another renowned Alaskan climber Mark Westman compared him to Alex Honnold, who became the first person to free solo a complete path on the granite wall.
Recent Accomplishments and Moniker
The climber had devoted several weeks climbing alone in Patagonia and the Canadian mountain range, completing a extremely challenging frozen ascent named Reality Bath, which had been unrepeated for 37 years, as reported by a specialist magazine.
He was known affectionately as the "Guy with the Orange Tent", because of his unique tent setup at the bottom of El Capitan.
El Capitan and Yosemite Incident History
The massive formation, an immense sheer granite wall of roughly 3,000 feet, is a major feature in the park and entices big-wall rock climbers from globally.
Miller's death represents the third fatality at the California national park this year. In June, an 18-year-old from Texas lost his life in the area while ascending unroped on a different formation.
And in late summer, a young adult hiker succumbed to injuries after being hit in the head by a sizeable falling limb.
Investigation
The National Park Service said in a statement that they were looking into the incident and "officials and first responders responded immediately."
