Alaska climber Balin Miller died Wednesday while climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.
Miller, 23, gained recent renown as an emerging mountaineer known for solo climbing treacherous routes in Alaska and beyond. Born and raised in Alaska, he was a graduate of West Anchorage High School, where he was also on the ski team.
Jeanine Moorman, Miller’s mother, said her son’s love for climbing began at the age of 3, when his dad set up a small climbing wall at their home.
“He'd read and read and read, and he taught himself,” Moorman said by phone Friday. “And he just had friends that would also climb, and they would go to boulder and do stuff. So many like, ‘Mom, can I go to the Seward Highway and go climb?’ I mean, this is when he was like 17, 18, going to the Seward Highway to climb.”
Miller eventually graduated to larger endeavors, traveling to Canada, South America and across the Lower 48 to climb, Moorman said. He spent 53 days summiting four peaks in Denali National Park and Preserve, she said.
“One was a route on Mount Hunter, it was the backside,” Moorman said. “It's one that had never been done, never been soloed before, on Hunter.”
Miller had successfully climbed El Capitan before, Moorman said. On his last climb before he died, she said her son reached the top of the face’s Sea of Dreams route, but he had issues bringing his gear bag up, which led to his death.
“His haul bag was stuck,” Moorman said. “What it sounds to me is he rappelled down to unhook the haul bag, and he ran out of rope and rappelled right off the rope.”
Moorman said her son’s lifestyle was dedicated to climbing, often on a shoestring budget, working odd jobs and living mostly out of his Toyota Prius. She said she hopes Miller is remembered for his bold and charismatic energy.
“He lived life bold and big,” she said.
