Balin Miller: Popular Alaskan climber dies at 23

A popular Climber, Balin Miller, plunged to death while livestreaming a daring ascent on TikTok.

In an unfortunate incident, the 23-year-old fell from Yosemite National Park’s iconic El Capitan in Alaska on October 1, 2025.

El Capitan stands out as a remarkable feature of Yosemite National Park, showcasing an immense vertical granite cliff that rises about 3,000 feet (915 meters) high, attracting daring big-wall rock climbers from around the globe

As reported by Associated Press, Balin's Mother, Jeanine Girard Moorman, confirmed his unfortunate death.

The Alaskan star's death has left his mother emotional. Jeanine broke into tears while announcing his death in a heartbreaking video.

She said, “He’s been climbing since he was a young boy. His heart and soul were truly meant just to climb."

The exact cause of death is still unknown. However, his mother informed he fell as he was rope-sloping.

Additionally, Balin’s brother Dylan also informed, “Miller had been lead rope-soloing on the 2,400-foot route Sea of Dreams - a challenging climb on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, California”

Dylan appeared overwhelmed with his emotions, “I’m his bigger brother but he was my mentor.”

Following the heart-wrenching tragedy, Yosemite National Park service said in a statement that they are investigating the incident and “park rangers and emergency personnel responded immediately.”

Furthermore, it is not the only climbing death reported this season, the catastrophic incident marks the third death in the same park reported in past few months.

Earlier this year, an 18-year-old from Texas died in the park while free-soloing on a different formation. 

In August 2025, another 29-year-old woman died after being struck in the head by a large tree branch while hiking.

About Alaskan Climber Balin Miller:

Balin Miller was born on January 12, 2002, and grew up in Anchorage Alaska.

The young American climber, was known for solo ascents in Canada, Patagonia and Alaska.

The Alaskan climber began his rock-climbing journey with his father alongside the Seward Highway when he was just 3 years old.

Moreover, at the age of 12, he became involved in ice climbing. 

Miller was a self-proclaimed Mark Twight follower and believed "Anything Mark Twight does is awesome."

Young Balin Miller was considered a "Rising Star" by Veteran Anchorage Climbers. Well-known Alaskan climber Clint Helander said Miller was "the new king of the Alaska Range."

Another veteran Anchorage climber and Alpinist, Mark Westman, also compared him to famed rock climber Alex Honnold.

Balin was also known for his trademark "orange tent" and for livestreaming his climbs.

Many fans posted tributes to Balin Miller on social media, saying they had watched him climb on a TikTok livestream for two days before his death and referring to him as “orange tent guy."

Passionate rock climber, Balin was an accomplished alpinist who had already gained international attention for claiming the first solo ascent of Mount McKinley’s Slovak Direct. 

This technically challenging route took him 56 hours to complete.