‘Sole Witness’ of Balin Miller’s Fatal El Capitan Fall Details Traumatic Moment

Balin Miller was summiting Yosemite's El Capitan on Wednesday when he tragically fell to his death. While many were following along via his livestream, only one man witnessed the tragedy in person.

A TikTok user named Eric, who goes by the username mountainscalling.me and calls himself a "Yosemite superfan", shared a video on Friday, October 3, of detailing what he witnessed.

"I was here for something called Yosemite facelift...that was going on over the previous weekend," he said, adding that he headed to El Capitan following the trash pickup event.

@mountainscalling.me

this is what happened. i have seen misleading news reports and want everyone to know exactly what transpired from the sole witness. i did not want this. ???? i am heartbroken and deeply affected by what i saw as i know many of you are too. please honor our beloved ⛺️???? climber Balin Miller and respect his legacy. ???? #yosemite #nationalpark #climbing #elcapitan

♬ original sound - mountainscalling.me

Eric had been filming various climbers beginning Sunday night. While he did not personally know Miller, he began identifying him and other climbers by their articles of clothing and color of equipment.

According to Eric, more than 100,000 people were following along on the livestreams, cheering on the climbers.

He went on to explain that Balin had reached the top of the mountain but went back down to retrieve his bag that was stuck.

"The place where the bag swung to, he was trying to pull it up and over that from the top. Hauling it up over a ledge," he recalled. "It looked like he was really getting frustrated with the fact that it was caught on this ledge."

Balin decided to rappel down to the bag.

"We then saw him rappel off the end of his rope," Eric said. "I didn't actually believe that he had fallen off the end of his rope...at that time I then saw him fall the entire distance to the ground."

Eric detailed the rescue efforts saying, "I am heartbroken and deeply affected by what I saw as I know many of you are too."