Famed climber Zach Milligan found dead in Canadian Rockies

A renowned mountain climber who famously lived in a cave at Yosemite National Park for 13 years has been found dead in an apparent fall in the Canadian Rockies.

Parks Canada rangers located the body of Zach Milligan, 43, at the base of the 2,300-foot-tall Polar Circus in Jasper National Park on Feb. 11, according to Gripped.com.

“They found what appeared to be the deceased person at the bottom of a cliff in that area,” said Sgt. Susan Richter of the Lake Louise Royal Canadian Mounted Police to the climbing-news outlet.

Police said Milligan’s death appears to be accidental.

Milligan and his friend, Jason Torlano, made headlines in 2021 when they became the first people to ski down Yosemite National Park’s famed Half Dome.

Close pal and fellow climber Chris Van Leuven recalled Milligan’s “insatiable love for adventure.

“He is my favorite dude, and I really loved his honesty — I loved his personality, his black-and-white way of viewing the world, his dedication to his craft and his high ethics,” Van Leuven told the Calgary Sun from California.

“He climbed at a very, very high level both on rock and on ice as a free soloist. … And he would always be training his body and mind for performing in the mountains,” Van Leuven said.

“He was like a marathon-fit rock climber, dedicated dirt bag to the core, but also an intellectual,” Van Leuven said, adding that Milligan was a “real larger-than-life person.

“He wasn’t intentionally loving, but the way he was so honest with everyone made them closer to him. We all really respected him. There’s a great outpouring of support, and we all feel the same way,” he said.

Former girlfriend Kristin Anderson said Milligan had spent the past year in Montana and went climbing in Canada’s Banff National Park shortly before his accident.

“Most of his climbs are done solo, so it’s a very comfortable space for him to be in, and I look at the [Polar Circus] climb, and it was well within his climbing ability . . . so it is shocking,” Anderson told the Sun from Maine.

“[He] just made me believe in myself. … [He was] one of the most thoughtful, intellectual and interesting people I’ve ever met,” she said.

“He was very kind but he was very opinionated and had very strong values by which he lived his life.”

Milligan, who grew up in Tucker, Ga., got hooked on climbing at the age of 18 when he was getting a haircut and noticed a photo of Half Dome on the wall, SFGate reported.

He later moved to Yosemite National Park, where he spent 20 years including 13 living in a cave while workin for a cleaning service.

He climbed the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome 20 times and the 1,640-foot tall Steck-Salathé route up Sentinel Rock at least 275 times, according to the outlet.

“You feel like you’re in contact with God. It makes me feel like I’m in a magical place,” Milligan said in a 2021 interview.