The CRUX: True Survival Stories

On October 1st, 2025, 23-year-old Balin Miller stood near the summit of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park — glitter on his cheeks, orange tent packed, having just completed one of the most psychologically punishing climbs in the world. In the first nine months of 2025 alone, he had accomplished feats that made legends of the sport shake their heads in disbelief, all while living out of a beat-up silver Prius on a shoestring budget. But in the moments after his greatest triumph, something went terribly wrong. This is the story of a young man who packed more living into 23 years than most people do in a lifetime — and the single, heartbreaking oversight that ended it all. Bring tissues, and maybe don't listen to this one alone.

Timestamps:

00:34 Disaster Strikes Intro

01:20 El Capitan Tragedy Setup

03:18 Baylen Alaska Origins

04:49 Prius Glitter Lifestyle

06:26 Reality Bath Solo

08:21 Denali Slavic Direct

11:18 Sea of Dreams Explained

14:02 Livestream Orange Tent

16:09 Rappel Off Rope End

17:37 Stopper Knot Theory

19:10 Aftermath And Tributes

22:13 Legacy And Lessons

25:13 Safety Reminder Outro

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References

"Balin Miller: American climber dies aged 23 while climbing El Capitan." October 3, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/03/sport/climbing-balin-miller-death-intl

CBC News. "Climber Balin Miller, 23-year-old who achieved rare Banff summit, dies in fall at Yosemite's El Capitan." October 3, 2025. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/yosemite-climbing-death-miller-1.7650097

Gafni, Matthias. "Witness describes horror of streaming climber Balin Miller's fatal fall in Yosemite." San Francisco Chronicle, October 4, 2025. https://www.sfchronicle.com/outdoors/article/witness-climber-balin-miller-fall-21083821.php

Early, Wesley. "Alaska climber Balin Miller dies during El Capitan summit." Alaska Public Media, October 3, 2025. https://alaskapublic.org/news/2025-10-03/alaska-climber-balin-miller-dies-during-el-capitan-summit

Gripped Magazine. "Balin Miller Solos the Slovak Direct on Denali." June 16, 2025. https://gripped.com/news/balin-miller-solos-the-slovak-direct-on-denali/

Gripped Magazine. "The Reality Bath in the Rockies Repeated Solo." January 11, 2025. https://gripped.com/profiles/the-reality-bath-in-the-rockies-repeated-solo/

Gripped Magazine. "Alpinist Balin Miller Dies in a Rappel Accident in Yosemite." October 2025. https://gripped.com/news/alpinist-balin-miller-dies-in-a-rappel-accident-in-yosemite/

Walsh, Anthony. "Bold Young Alpinist Balin Miller Dies in Yosemite Fall." Climbing Magazine, October 2025. https://www.climbing.com/news/alpinist-balin-miller-dies-in-yosemite/

American Alpine Club. "A Tribute to Balin Miller." October 15, 2025. https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/10/15/a-tribute-to-balin-miller

Twight, Mark. "The Reality Bath re-Redux." Substack, January 17, 2025. https://marktwight.substack.com/p/the-reality-bath-re-redux

Explorersweb. "Denali: Slovak Direct Soloed, Season in Full Swing." June 20, 2025. https://explorersweb.com/denali-slovak-direct-soloed-season-in-full-swing/

Wikipedia contributors. "Balin Miller." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed October 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balin_Miller

NBC News. "Noted climber falls to his death at Yosemite National Park's El Capitan rock formation." October 4, 2025. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/noted-climber-falls-death-yosemite-national-parks-el-capitan-rock-form-rcna235570

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On December 22nd, 1991, a 22-year-old medical student from Brisbane crawled under a rock overhang in the Nepalese Himalayas and waited for help. He had a sleeping bag, two chocolate bars, four books, and no way to make fire.

No one knew where he was.

The record for survival at that elevation in Himalayan winter — without food, without shelter beyond a sleeping bag, without fire — was ten days. Every expert, every search coordinator, every official who looked at the timeline said the same thing. It had been too long. The mountain didn't give people back after this many days.

James Scott lasted forty-three.

In this episode, Kaycee McIntosh and Julie Henningsen trace every decision that put him under that rock, what his body went through in the weeks that followed, and the two parallel stories running at the same time — a young man alone in the dark doing whatever it took to stay alive, and a sister in Kathmandu who refused, day after day, to accept what everyone around her was saying.

This one will stay with you.

00:00 Podcast Intro

00:39 Storm on the Pass

02:35 Alone in the Whiteout

04:19 Shelter Under the Rock

05:16 43 Days Survival Setup

07:04 Backstory and Trek Plan

09:12 Winter Hazards and Bad Gear

12:15 Split Decision at the Pass

14:33 Creek Descent Goes Wrong

16:44 Rationing and Staying Alive

18:26 UV Damage and Darkness

19:26 Search Begins and Family Arrives

20:08 Joanne Refuses Defeat

21:15 Search Limits at Altitude

22:23 Life Under the Overhang

24:16 Why He Stayed Put

25:49 Helicopter Missed Signal

26:28 Giving Up Then Reversing

27:55 Collapse After 100 Meters

29:10 Day 42 Final Flyover

29:48 Blue Sleeping Bag Spotted

31:39 Hospital Recovery and Aftermath

33:30 Other Cases and Key Variables

35:18 Book, Media, and Missing Answers

37:05 Why He Survived

38:31 Hosts Reflect and Wrap

 

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Get schooled by Julie in outdoor wilderness medicine! https://www.headwatersfieldmedicine.com/

 
SOURCES

Primary

Scott, J. and Robertson, J. (1993). Lost in the Himalayas. Melbourne: Lothian. Edinburgh edition 1994.

Scott, J. (1992). 'James Scott: How I Survived.' Sun Herald, March 8, 1992. Republished at medicaltranslation.com.au

Scott, J. and Bailey, E. (1993). 'Miracle in the Himalayas.' Reader's Digest, February 1993, pp. 31–38.

UPI Archives (February 5, 1992). 'Man survives 43 days in mountains on snow and ice.' Includes direct quotes from Carl Harrison and Dr. F. Garlick. upi.com/Archives/1992/02/05/

Secondary

Farafoot Survival Stories (2014). 'Lost in the Himalayas — A Fight for Survival.' farafootsurvivalstories.wordpress.com. Contains extended first-person account from James's 1992 Sun Herald article.

Academic thesis: 'Traumatic Event Without Loss of Life.' Chapter 6, pp. 202–223. University of Queensland. reporting4work.com.au. Contains interview with Joanne Robertson.

Wellcome Collection (1993). Archival illustration and reference materials. wellcomecollection.org/works/z65xekgt

Zimmerman, M.D. et al. (1997). 'On being a patient: survival.' Annals of Internal Medicine, 127: 405–409.

Hilless, B. (December 1998). 'A vision of human survival.' AMAQ News, Journal of the Queensland Branch of the Australian Medical Association.

Real Risk Podcast, S2 E7 (October 15, 2020). 'Lost in the Himalayas — The Impossible Tale of James Scott.' realriskpodcast.com

Trail Context

Going the Whole Hogg (2025). 'Gosainkunda Trek: The Essential Guide.' goingthewholehogg.com/gosainkunda-trek-guide/

Note on Mark Fulton: Mark Fulton's account of events after he separated from James is not part of the public record. His absence from the book and from press coverage is documented in reader reviews of Lost in the Himalayas (Goodreads, 2020). This script reflects only what is verifiably documented.

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On the morning of May 5th, 1979, four residents of Estevan, Saskatchewan boarded a small Cessna bound for Boise, Idaho on what was supposed to be a day trip. By that afternoon, the plane was down in a remote canyon in the Salmon River Mountains, two of the four passengers were dead, and two badly injured survivors were completely alone. No gear. No supplies. No rescue coming. What Donna Johnson and Brent Dyer did over the next nineteen days to stay alive is one of the most remarkable — and least known — survival stories in North American history. This episode does not look away from any of it.

Timestamps:

01:07 Crash Begins In Idaho

03:15 Meet The Passengers

05:28 Weather Route Decision

07:12 Impact And Injuries

10:51 Losses And Isolation

12:18 Search Misses Them

12:58 Cold Hunger And Journaling

15:25 Unthinkable Choice

18:25 Decision To Walk Out

21:53 Nineteen Day Escape

23:24 Rescue And Home News

24:30 Puppy And Lawsuit Fallout

27:01 Faith Legacy And Closing

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REFERENCES

Johnson v. Pischke, 108 Idaho 397, 700 P.2d 19 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1985)

Gzowski, Peter. The Sacrament. Atheneum Books, 1980.

"We Had to Eat Him and We Did." Maclean's, June 11, 1979.

Timson, Judith. "Survival on Faith and Human Flesh." Maclean's, October 6, 1980.

"Father's Protective Instinct Led to Miracle in Idaho Mountains." Regina Leader-Post, May 26, 1979.

"Pair Walk Away from Crash Site." Lawrence Journal-World, May 26, 1979.

"Air Crash Survivor Recounts Ordeal." Brandon Sun, June 1, 1979.

Penn, Alix and Carmella Lowkis. "ICE Part II — The Crash of the Skyhawk." Casting Lots: A Survival Cannibalism Podcast, December 2020.

Emilson, K. When Memories Remain, 3rd ed. Perpetual Books, 2018.

"Brent Dyer Survived a Plane Crash — Extraordinary Lives." YouTube, DoxNM, 2017.

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In this episode of the Crux podcast's Disaster Strikes segment, hosts Kaycee McIntosh and Julie Henningsen delve into the harrowing story of Dave Shaw, a technical diver who tragically perished while attempting to recover the body of a fellow diver, Deon Dreyer, from the depths of Bushman's Hole in South Africa. Listeners are taken through the extreme dangers of cave diving, the physiological and equipment challenges faced at extreme depths, and the sequence of events that led to Shaw's death. The narrative also touches on the ethical debate surrounding the attempted recovery, the impact on the diving community, and the lessons learned from this tragic incident.

00:00 Introduction to Disaster Strikes
01:04 The Fatal Dive of Dave Shaw

01:46 Understanding the Dangers of Cave Diving

06:19 Dave Shaw's Background and Diving Career

10:14 The Discovery of Deon Dreyer's Body

11:56 Planning the Recovery Dive

14:37 The Final Dive

19:01 The Fatal Spiral Begins

19:10 Shaw's Descent and Initial Struggles

19:59 The Unexpected Buoyancy Challenge

20:46 The Entanglement and Panic

22:51 Shaw's Final Moments

25:01 The Aftermath and Recovery

26:58 Debates and Controversies

34:23 Changes in Diving Practices

36:28 Unresolved Questions and Legacy

38:01 Conclusion and Reflections

Listen AD FREE: Support our podcast at patreaon: http://patreon.com/TheCruxTrueSurvivalPodcast

Email us! [email protected]

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thecruxpodcast/

Get schooled by Julie in outdoor wilderness medicine! https://www.headwatersfieldmedicine.com/

Primary Sources:

Zimmermann, Tim. "Raising the Dead." Outside Magazine, August 1, 2005.

Main investigative article, extensive detail on Shaw and the incident

Finch, Phillip. Diving Into Darkness: A True Story of Death and Survival. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008.

Book-length treatment of the incident with detailed accounts

Mitchell, SJ; Cronjé, FJ; Meintjes, WA; Britz, HC. "Fatal respiratory failure during a 'technical' rebreather dive at extreme pressure." Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, February 2007; 78(2): 81-6.

Medical/forensic analysis of Shaw's death

Dave Not Coming Back (2020). Documentary film.

Features Don Shirley's firsthand account and helmet camera footage

Secondary Sources:

Wikipedia: Dave Shaw - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Shaw

Verified biographical details, dates, equipment specifications

Wikipedia: Deon Dreyer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deon_Dreyer

Verified details about Dreyer's death and recovery

Wikipedia: Boesmansgat - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boesmansgat

Geographic and depth record information

All That's Interesting. "The Tragic Story Of Dave Shaw" https://allthatsinteresting.com/dave-shaw

Dive-Scuba.com. "Dave Shaw: The Full Story of the Bushman's Hole Diving Incident" https://www.dive-scuba.com/dave-shaw-incident/

South China Morning Post. "Dead diver fulfills his last mission," January 13, 2005

Contemporary news coverage from Shaw's home base

News24 (South Africa). "Divers' bodies 'unexpected,'" January 12, 2005 https://www.news24.com/divers-bodies-unexpected-20050112

Divernet. "Dave Shaw died from carbon dioxide black-out" https://divernet.com/scuba-news/dave-shaw-died-from-carbon-dioxide-black-out/

InDEPTH Magazine. "The Aftermath Of Love: Don Shirley and Dave Shaw" https://indepthmag.com/the-consequence-of-love-don-shirley-and-dave-shaw/

Technical Diving Forums (ScubaBoard, Yorkshire Divers)

Contemporary discussions and firsthand accounts from support divers

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Quicksand isn't a movie prop. It's real, it looks completely normal, and it happened to two men in the past three months — one in a frozen Utah canyon, one in a Florida mud pit. Austin Dirks is an experienced thru-hiker with thousands of backcountry miles. He stepped into what looked like an inch of water in Arches National Park and couldn't move for two hours. Andrew Giddens disappeared on Valentine's Day and wasn't found for days — shoulder-deep in saturated clay at an industrial site, invisible from 20 feet away. We cover the science of why quicksand traps people, why fighting back makes it worse, and what actually works — plus a 2026 NPS safety alert for Glen Canyon that's worth hearing before spring break. If you ever find yourself sinking, stop. Just stop.

00:00 Podcast Introduction

00:30 Quicksand Nightmare Setup

02:29 Utah Canyon Incident

06:06 Rescue In Courthouse Wash

08:00 Quicksand Myths Explained

08:44 How Quicksand Works

12:18 Rescue Tactics And Physics

14:17 Self Rescue Tips

15:17 Zion Subway Survival

18:20 Florida Mud Pit Case

21:40 Entrapment Survival Mindset

22:20 How Long Was He Stuck

23:27 Deputy Spots The Truck

24:49 A Face In The Mud

25:57 Two Hour Extraction

27:31 Aftermath And Medical Risks

29:15 Is Quicksand A Real Risk

30:55 Where Quicksand Forms

31:48 Warning Signs And Probing

32:53 Smart Moves If You Sink

34:43 Calling For Help Fast

37:32 Why Stillness Wins

41:34 New NPS Quicksand Alert

43:07 Final Takeaways And Resources

Listen AD FREE: Support our podcast at patreaon: http://patreon.com/TheCruxTrueSurvivalPodcast

Email us! [email protected]

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Get schooled by Julie in outdoor wilderness medicine! https://www.headwatersfieldmedicine.com/

Resources

Austin Dirks / Grand County Search and Rescue — local Utah news coverage, December 2025

Andrew Giddens / Putnam County Sheriff's Office — Palatka Fire Department statement, February 2026

Ryan Osmond / Zion National Park — Utah DPS rescue records, February 2019

Science

Daniel Bonn et al., Nature — "Granular media: how to pull out a foot" (2005)

Safety & Alerts

National Park Service — Glen Canyon National Recreation Area quicksand safety alert, March 2026 — nps.gov

The Broomway

Wikipedia — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Broomway

BBC Travel — "This desolate English path has killed more than 100 people" — bbc.com/travel

Robert Macfarlane, The Old Ways (2012)

Crisis Resource

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988 — 988lifeline.org

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