A 23-year-old climbing influencer died while live-streaming himself scaling El Capitan, a famous vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park.
Balin Miller fell during his Wednesday climb, his mother Jeanine Girard-Moorman confirmed to the Associated Press.
‘He’s been climbing since he was a young boy,’ she said. ‘His heart and soul was truly to just climb. He loved to climb and it was never about money and fame.’
On Facebook, the heartbroken mom wrote: ‘It is with a heavy heart I have to tell you my incredible son Balin Miller died during a climbing accident today.
‘My heart is chattered in a million pieces. I don’t know how I will get through this. I love him so much. I want to wake up from this horrible nightmare.’
Tributes have poured in for Miller, while shocked viewers who were following his adventure have expressed their shock at watching the fall on the TikTok stream.
One fan who had been watching his journey over four days revealed she was watching online when the horrifying accident took place.
‘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.
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’.
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 arguably the most prominent landmark 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.
Miller was referred to as ‘orange tent guy’ by his viewers thanks to his bright-colored tent setup during his two-day journey up El Capitan.
It’s not clear what went wrong during Miller’s climb, but his older brother, Dylan Miller, told the AP that he was lead rope soloing up a 2,400-foot route named Sea of Dreams.
This meant Miller had a rope to protect himself from any falls, though experts caution that this method is still inherently risky.
Dylan said his brother finished the climb and was likely hauling the rest of his gear when he rappelled to the end of his rope and fell.
‘He said he felt most alive when he was climbing,’ Dylan Miller said. ‘I’m his bigger brother but he was my mentor.’
He 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. He 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.
‘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.
However, Miller’s trip to El Capitan was by all accounts a break from his rigorous climbing schedule.
His family said he got to Yosemite two weeks ago to enjoy the park. He was due to meet the rest of his family there for a vacation.
‘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.
Miller’s Instagram page, which has more than 4,500 followers, is now full of heartfelt tributes from both people who knew him and people who simply admired his stunning athleticism and courage from afar.
Miller was also affiliated with the clothing brand Millet, which makes gear for mountaineers.
His bio on the company’s website, which included details about his upbringing and his hobbies, was also quite foreboding.
‘Whether it’s putting up a new route or rapping down a face in the dark, you don’t totally know what to expect but don’t always have the option of bailing,’ he wrote.
‘Everyone should experience real fear and danger at some point, which is easily done in the mountains. I think it would help a lot of people become less stressed over more frivolous problems.’
