An Alaskan climbing influencer has died after falling from El Capitan, a famous vertical rock formation in California’s Yosemite National Park.
Balin Miller, 23, was live-streamed on TikTok ascending and subsequently falling from the monolith on Wednesday.
In an emotional social media post confirming her son’s death, his mother Jeanine Girard-Moorman said: “My heart is shattered in a million pieces. I don’t know how I will get through this. I love him so much. I want to wake up from this horrible nightmare.”
Details of what caused the incident are not clear, but Miller’s brother Dylan told AFP he was lead rope soloing - a technique that enables climbing alone while still protected by a rope - on a 2,400ft (730m) route named Sea of Dreams.
Can you really not grasp the concept here? It’s obviously a relatively dangerous hobby. Why argue against that? Weird hill to die on.
Maybe talk to an actual actuary, and they can explain the statistics side better than me.
Most of my job is risk analysis, so I can help explain the statistics
More climbers die in car accidents going to the climb site than they do climbing
Traffic fatalities rarely make the news, so even though the drive is statistically more dangerous, the climb emotionally feels more dangerous
Climbing a dangerous hobby, but road tripping is even more dangerous, per trip. It’s important to keep the relative risks in mind
It’s also perfectly valid to say either hobby is too risky for you personally. Underwater basket weaving is plenty fun and quite safe
If you’re an expert in statistics, then I think you’ll immediately recognize why what you’re saying is misleading.
For one, we are talking about driving cars, period. For transportation. Not for pleasure. Not as a hobby.
Putting yourself in mortal danger for fun, by putting yourself into situations that no person will ever naturally be in (e.g. free climbing mountains), is not comparable to driving a car for your work commute.
I specifically used road trips as an example because they impetus is more closely aligned. Road trips are generally a pleasure hobby
I’ve done a road trip through the mountains of Colorado. Stunning views right from your car. Objectively a dangerous hobby
For the record, free climbing is a very different sport from rope soloing. It’s not the same ballpark of danger. Unless your name is Alex Hannold, free soloing is a bit more like riding a motorcycle through DC traffic with no helmet - a death wish