Balin Miller: Climber dies on El Capitan in Yosemito National Park after falling 2,400ft during TikTok livestream
A climber who documented his ascents on social media has died after falling during a live-streamed video.
Balin Miller, 23, from Alaska, was killed on Wednesday while he was rappelling near the top of the Sea of Dreams, a difficult route up the south-eastern side of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in California.
He was recording his ascent on TikTok, a platform on which he had many followers because of his exploits over the last few years, but fell about 2,400ft.
His mum Jeanine Girard-Moorman confirmed his death on Facebook and said: “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.”
His final Instagram post, from three weeks ago, says simply: “A slow finish to the summer, looking forward to disappearing into the Rockies.”
Miller had made waves in the climbing world this summer, after conquering Mount McKinley's Slovak Direct in 56 hours, and scaling peaks in Patagonia and the Canadian Rockies, including a seven-day ascent of the ice climb Reality Bath, which had not been climbed for 37 years.
Tributes have been paid across social media, with friends and admirers leaving comments such as: “May you forever rest in peace and climb the highest with the almighty. Spent 3 days watching you climb el cap on TT and it was absolutely mesmerizing. You accomplished things that only people like myself dream of. RIP.”