The Alaskan climber was killed in an accident in El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, California, his company and family confirmed.
Ballin Miller, 23, died in a “mountain climbing accident” on Wednesday, October 1st, according to her mother, Janine Gillard Mohman.
“The mountains took my Balin today – I will never recover,” Girard Mohman said in a Facebook post.
Miller was live streaming on Tiktok two days before his death, the Associated Press reported.
“He’s been climbing since he was a young boy,” Janine Girard Mohman told the Associated Press. “His heart and soul were just a climb. He loved to climb, and it was never about money and fame.”
Girard Mohman also confirmed the death of his son through an outdoor clothing and design company that he and his brother Dylan Miller began, Virr became outdoors.
“I have a strong heart so I have to tell you that my incredible son, Valin Miller, has passed away in today’s climbing accident,” Virr’s post is an outdoor Facebook read. “My heart is chatting with millions of parts. I don’t know how to get through this. I love him so much. I want to wake up from this horrifying nightmare.”
USA Today contacted the National Park Service on Friday, October 3rd, but did not receive a response.
What happened to Valin Miller?
Miller’s death occurred on October 1st, the first day of the federal government closure. Services are limited, but national parks are generally open during the closure.
Dylan Miller told the Associated Press that the incident occurred while Balin was solo scaling El Capitan’s side.
The climber was on a 2,400-foot route named Sea of Dreams. Ballin was trying to pull the rest of the gear as he was likely to come down from the edge of the rope, his brother told the news outlet.
Many other climbers saw Miller fall. According to Crimbing Magazine, photographer Tom Evans, who was capturing Miller’s Climb, witnessed the incident and called 911. After the call, recovery efforts began.
In a Facebook post, Evans wrote that Miller was “a young man who is highly regarded among the best climbers here. … These things happen from time to time, but the pain is never over.
According to agency data, 205 deaths occurred in the national park between 2014 and 2019.
What is El Capitan?
El Capitan is the iconic granite layer, one of Yosemite’s most prominent features. The mammoth rock wall rises 3,000 feet above the meadow below.
Climbers from all over the world will come to the park to summit El Capitan, according to the National Park Service website.
Alex Honold, known for his free solo ascents in Big Walls, made his first free solo clim b el capitan in 2017 in the documentary “Free Solo.”
Miller rose to prominence after a solo climb on Slovakia Direct, a 9,000-foot climbing route in Mount McKinley, Alaska. The climb took 56 hours to complete and was posted on Miller’s Instagram page in June.
His death follows two other falls this year. In July, a 29-year-old woman passed away after climbing North Carolina Falls. In June, an 18-year-old man also died after falling above a waterfall in Washington’s Olympic National Park.
Michelle Del Rey is a trending news reporter for USA Today. Contact her at mdelrey@usatoday.com
