Climber Dies in Fall After Scaling Yosemite’s El Capitan

The death of Balin Miller, 23, shocked his family and onlookers who were watching his ascent of the famed rock face.


Balin Miller in Hyalite Canyon, Mont., in an undated photo released by his mother. Jason Thompson, via Jeanine Moorman

By John Yoon
Oct. 3, 2025

A 23-year-old mountaineer fell to his death on Wednesday in an accident after reaching the summit of a challenging route at El Capitan, the famed vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park.

The climber, Balin Miller, had scaled the rock alone on a rope for days, then fell while rappelling down to retrieve haul bags that had gotten stuck as he tried to pull them up, his mother, Jeanine Moorman, said in an interview.

Mr. Miller did not appear to realize that the rope was not long enough to reach the bags and slid off the end of it, Tom Evans, a photographer who was at Yosemite at the time, wrote on social media.

His death shocked onlookers who had been watching his ascent from the base of the rock at Yosemite and over a livestream that one of them had broadcast during his climb. To many, he was known simply as the “orange tent guy,” because of the color of the gear he used on his way up.

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El Capitan, a vertical rock formation and popular attraction in Yosemite National Park. Ben Margot/Associated Press

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John Yoon is a Times reporter based in Seoul who covers breaking and trending news.

A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 4, 2025, Section A, Page 11 of the New York edition with the headline: Yosemite Climber Dies in Fall After Summiting El Capitan. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe