TikTok rock climber Balin Miller dies after falling off cliff during live stream

Alaskan climbing influencer Balin Miller has died after falling from El Capitan, the iconic granite rock formation in California’s Yosemite National Park. He was 23.

Miller was livestreaming on TikTok as he ascended the 3,000-foot wall on Wednesday before the fatal fall. His mother, Jeanine Girard-Moorman, confirmed his death in an emotional social media post, writing: “My heart is shattered 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.”

Authorities have not confirmed the exact cause of the accident. Miller’s brother Dylan said that he was lead rope soloing on a 2,400-foot route named Sea of Dreams and had completed the climb when he likely rappelled off the end of his rope while hauling up equipment. Photographer Tom Evans, who witnessed the fall, said Miller had been trying to free a stuck bag before he called 911.

Rising star in climbing

Born in Anchorage, Miller grew up climbing with his father and brother before becoming known in the global climbing community. In June, he shared on Instagram that he had made the first solo ascent of Mount McKinley’s Slovak Direct in 56 hours, a feat that brought him international attention.

“He’s had probably one of the most impressive last six months of climbing of anyone I can think of,” veteran alpinist Clint Helander told the Anchorage Daily News earlier this year. Another renowned climber, Mark Westman, compared Miller to Alex Honnold, the first to free solo a full route on El Capitan.

Miller had recently completed solo climbs in Patagonia and the Canadian Rockies, including Reality Bath, a difficult ice route that had gone unrepeated for 37 years. In Yosemite, he was known to fellow climbers as the “Orange Tent Guy,” for his distinctive campsite at the base of El Capitan.

It marks the third death in the park this year. In June, an 18-year-old climber from Texas died while attempting a route without a rope, and in August, a 29-year-old hiker was killed after being struck by a falling tree branch.