Zach Milligan: Yosemite climber, 42, who skied down Half Dome, found dead in Canadian Rockies
ALBERTA, CANADA: A well-known climber who made history two years ago by becoming the first person to ski down Yosemite National Park's Half Dome was discovered dead in the Canadian Rockies. Zach Milligan, 42, was found at the base of the 2,300-foot Polar Circus ice climb in Banff, Alberta, on February 11. His death was confirmed by his sister, Martha.
"He was a world-class climber, incredible alpine skier, gifted musician, wicked smart; he could tell a wildly entertaining story and make almost anything funny," she wrote on Facebook. "He will be missed more deeply than there are words." His brother Austin added, "He was not only my brother, he was my best friend." Rangers with Parks Canada discovered Milligan’s body near the bottom of the famed 2,300-foot-tall ice climb in Jasper National Park on Saturday, February 11, a day after they came across his abandoned vehicle and called for a drone search.
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“They found what appeared to be the deceased person at the bottom of a cliff in that area,” Sgt. Susan Richter of the Lake Louise Royal Canadian Mounted Police, reported SFGATE. Parks Canada released an incident report that stated that Milligan had most likely fallen from one of the upper pitches on Polar Circus.
Milligan lived in a cave in Yosemite for 13 years
Milligan was born in Tucker, Georgia. Milligan became fascinated with climbing when he was 18 years old and happened to see a photograph of Half Dome on the wall of a barbershop. He purchased a rope soon after and started climbing, quickly becoming addicted. He relocated to Yosemite and lived there for 13 years in a cave, as reported by The Daily Mail.
Working for a cleaning firm, Milligan made a meager living before relocating to Montana and starting a flooring company. He would often sleep in his van. He first met Kristin Anderson, a fellow climber, in 2004, and the two started dating in 2011. At the time of his death, the couple was residing in a modest house on the western side of Yosemite.
Milligan gained fame after his descent from Half Dome on skis in 2021
Chris Van Leuven, a journalist and fellow climber, said that Milligan was averse to attention but his adventurous nature made him stand apart. In a 2021 interview with Van Leuven, Milligan likened climbing to moving meditation. “You feel like you’re in contact with God. It makes me feel like I’m in a magical place.” Milligan, who despised photography and was wary of the media, became an overnight celebrity in the climbing community after skiing down Half Dome in February 2021.
In a remarkable and dangerous achievement, Milligan and Jason Torlano finished the descent in five hours by skiing and rappelling back to the valley bottom. The men can be seen in the nail-biting film cautiously slicing their way through crusty snow and rappelling down multiple bare rock parts known as the "death slabs" beneath Half Dome's infamous face.
Originally, solely intending to record Torlano's skiing, Milligan says he afterward made the conscious decision to ski down himself. He claimed that when he skied over a portion of a climbing cable and lost control, the situation quickly became deadly. Milligan was able to right himself after using an ice ax to stop his slide. "I was just trying to stay in control and stay alive," Milligan said. "You're on that spine and you don't have a lot of room for error." He added, "I had no business being on Half Dome. I'm not a real skier."
'Zach is the most interesting person I have ever met'
Anderson praised the man's spirit. "Zach is the most interesting person I have ever met," she told Outside magazine. "I fell in love with him the moment I met him in 2004 during my first summer in Yosemite. I credit Zach for showing me what I was capable of; he challenged me and pushed me past my perceived limits, and he made me a better climber." She added, "My favorite days with him were waking up at 3am, running around on high Sierra ridges, and basking in the sun and wind. Outside of climbing, he offered unique perspectives on the world and was always the person I could talk to for hours, even if I called him with nothing to say."