@mopowers, yes, happened about 500 feet from my stepson while he was in the middle of his climb.
"On Oct. 1, the 23-year-old was climbing a route on El Capitan’s 3,000-foot granite wall known as the Sea of Dreams. While challenging, especially in wet weather, the route was likely in his comfort zone.
Miller had already finished the climb, according to a social media post by prolific Yosemite Photographer Tom Evans, when the bag he was hauling up the final pitch got stuck.
“So, he went down his lead line to clear it. His rope didn’t reach the bags location by many feet, but he seemed unaware of that fact,” Evans, who was one of many who witnessed the deadly accident, wrote. “On the way down, he rappelled off the end of the rope.”
Stopper knots tied to the end of the rope can prevent tragedies like the one Miller suffered, though many climbers, according to The Times, prefer to skip that step in favor of efficiency. A stopper knot can get snagged in rock cracks or trees, forcing climbers to slow down and expend more energy getting the knot unstuck.
“He was a young man, highly regarded among the best climbers here. I photographed him for many days on the climb and spoke with him earlier,” Evans wrote. “Yes we all know tie knots etc. … but this is not the moment to go into all of that… let’s just take this moment to remember a fine young man and save the lessons for another time… please??”