Balin Miller, a 23-year-old American climbing star from Alaska, died unexpectedly on Wednesday. He was rappelling near the top of Sea of Dreams, an ultradifficult grade VII line on El Capitan’s southeast face in Yosemite National Park. Miller is equally legendary for his best-in-class talents and accomplishments. He was enjoying the peak of a climbing season that had already established him as one of America’s most prodigious alpinists.
Miller began his freefall descent, certain he was on course for his gear bag. Only then did he realize the rope wouldn’t lead where he planned, which caused him to fall. For this tragic incident to have such a fatal result has left the climbing community deeply saddened. His mother, Jeanine Girard-Moorman, made the news public in a series of tearful social media posts.
“My heart is shattered in a million pieces.” – Jeanine Girard-Moorman
Miller’s been climbing since she was a teenager. Yet when he was just three years old, he was game enough to skate in his father, David’s, wake on the Seward Highway near Anchorage. At age 12, he dove headfirst into ice climbing. This fire soon spread into arduous ascents in some of Alaska’s biggest mountain ranges, Canadian ranges, and Patagonia.
All of this meant that over the past six months, Miller had received a lot of deserved buzz for his exceptional achievements. His ascent in 56 hours is a true masterpiece. This astonishing accomplishment eclipsed the monumental 1st class effort done by famous alpinist Mark Twight, Steve House, and Scott Backes in 2000. Climbing Magazine went so far as to call his ascent one of the most amazing sports feats of the decades.
Beyond this national recognition, fellow climbers in Alaska had already begun to acclaim him as “the new king of the Alaska Range.” With Miller, Judith rocking a 53-day solo ascent of Mount Hunter’s French Connection, Alaska Range. After that remarkable achievement, he came back to make history on Denali. In June, he became the first climber in history to solo the Slovak Direct on the mountain’s South Face. This non-glacial technical route is more than 2,700 meters with under 20 recorded ascents.
Miller has a killer resume of climbs. His accomplishments include the first ascents of some of the world’s most challenging peaks, such as Cerro Torre in Patagonia and the West Buttress of Denali. He supported his climbing expeditions by crabbing in Nome during the off-season. Furthermore, he found seasonal work at a mine in southeast Alaska.
Over this season in Yosemite, Miller picked up the moniker of “Orange Tent Guy.” He rose to extraordinary fame for his improvised campsite out of the base of El Capitan and for streaming his climbs live. The mark that he’s made on the climbing world is incalculable. His uplifting mountain climbing tales made a career-long impression on both fellow artists and listeners.
Fellow climber Clint Helander was impressed by Miller’s recent accomplishments. He’s had, I think, one of the most impressive last six months of someone’s climbing that I can think of.