A 23-year-old Alaskan mountaineer, a rising talent among the sport’s elite, plummeted to his death earlier this week from Yosemite’s El Capitan during an apparent livestream, according to multiple media reports.
Balin Miller, an Anchorage native, was well known among the climbing community, having already traversed imposing routes in the Sierra Nevada and Patagonia, though a June climb on the South Face of Denali, the highest summit in North America, is what really brough the 23-year-old to the forefront, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Referred to as the “Slovak Direct” because of the three climbers who first ascended the nearly vertical mountain in 1984, the demanding climb is more than 9,000 feet of technical ice climbing, often in terrible weather conditions. It’s thought to be among the most challenging ascents in the Western hemisphere.
Miller, who climbed it solo, became one of around 20 people to ever successfully complete the route.
On Oct. 1, the 23-year-old was climbing a route on El Capitan’s 3,000-foot granite wall known as the Sea of Dreams. While challenging, especially in wet weather, the route was likely in his comfort zone.
Miller had already finished the climb, according to a social media post by prolific Yosemite Photographer Tom Evans, when the bag he was hauling up the final pitch got stuck.
“So, he went down his lead line to clear it. His rope didn’t reach the bags location by many feet, but he seemed unaware of that fact,” Evans, who was one of many who witnessed the deadly accident, wrote. “On the way down, he rappelled off the end of the rope.”
According to The Times, a handful of Reddit users claimed to have also been watching a livestream of the climb on TikTok when the fatal fall occurred.
Stopper knots tied to the end of the rope can prevent tragedies like the one Miller suffered, though many climbers, according to The Times, prefer to skip that step in favor of efficiency. A stopper knot can get snagged in rock cracks or trees, forcing climbers to slow down and expend more energy getting the knot unstuck.
“He was a young man, highly regarded among the best climbers here. I photographed him for many days on the climb and spoke with him earlier,” Evans wrote. “Yes we all know tie knots etc. … but this is not the moment to go into all of that… let’s just take this moment to remember a fine young man and save the lessons for another time… please??”
Jeanine Girard-Moorman confirmed later that day that her son had died, saying her heart had been shattered in a million pieces. “I don’t know how I will get through this… I love him so much.”
Yosemite National Park Rangers, many of whom are considered essential workers during the federal government shutdown, responded to the scene shortly after the accident.
Miller’s mother was reportedly informed by rangers of her son’s death, Alaska’s News Source reported.
She described her son as a “free spirit,” adding that while he didn’t want to and was not ready to die, “he did die doing what he loved, for sure.”
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