Yosemite, CA – A climber has died in Yosemite National Park, falling to his death this week, marking the third death this summer.
The climbing accident happened on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, when popular Alaskan climber, 23-year-old Balin Miller, fell from El Capitan, according to the Associated Press (AP). Big-wall rock climbers from all over the world come to climb El Capitan due to its sheer granite rock face of around 3,000 feet.
While the park service has not released a statement regarding Miller’s death, they advised the AP that they are investigating the incident and “park rangers and emergency personnel responded immediately.”
On social media, many fans posted tributes to Miller, noting they had watched him climb on a TikTok livestream for two days before his death. The AP noted that it’s still unclear exactly what happened, according to his family. Miller was lead rope soloing on a 2,400-foot (730-meter) route named Sea of Dreams. The AP quoted a family member who stated Miller “had already finished the climb and was hauling up his last bit of gear when he likely rappelled off the end of his rope.”
An accomplished alpinist, Miller had previously received international acclaim for making the first solo climb of Mount McKinley’s Slovak Direct, which he completed in 56 hours, according to his June Instagram post. According to Climbing magazine, Miller spent weeks solo climbing in Patagonia and the Canadian Rockies this year, including completing the famously tough ice route Reality Bath, which had been unrepeated for 37 years.
Earlier this year, while free-soloing or climbing without a rope, an 18-year-old from Texas died from a fall on a different formation. As we reported at the end of July, a 29-year-old Bay Area woman hiking in the park died after being struck in the head by a large tree branch.
