Derek Hersey

Derek Hersey
Derek Hersey (right) and friends making PBJ sandwiches, Yosemite Valley, CA
Derek's business card

Derek Geoffrey Hersey (26 October 1956 – 28 May 1993)[1][2][3][4] was a British rock climber and for many years an icon of the Boulder, Colorado climbing scene. Hersey was a master of unroped "free solo" climbing, often in the 5.10–5.11 range.[3][5] Few climbers have tried to repeat his achievements, which include many of Colorado's hardest traditional routes.

Originally from Stretford, Greater Manchester, England, Hersey was also known for his beatnik lifestyle and easygoing personality. Hersey was universally regarded as a kindly, modest man[2] with a weakness for Toothsheaf Stout, his favourite beer. He referred to Eldorado Canyon as his 'office', where he could be seen on any day of the week,[2][6] if not on a road trip to Yosemite National Park or elsewhere. He also referred to Boulder, Colorado's Liquor Mart as 'The Shrine', and described his climbing-chalk bag as 'my bag of courage'. Hersey was featured in Climbing Magazine[7][8] and posthumously in the film Front Range Freaks. He was five feet, eleven inches tall and weighed 138 pounds.[3] He spoke with a strong Manchester accent.[6]

Hersey was introduced to climbing by his father, who went hiking near Manchester every week. Hersey learned to climb on the gritstone of the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire. In 1983, after being unemployed for five years in England, Hersey decided to travel to the United States, where he lived for the rest of his life.[6]

Hersey's efforts to push the limits of his sport earned him the nickname "Dr. Death".[3][6][9][10] Hersey was perhaps most famous for his exploits in Eldorado Canyon, but his resume includes many other remarkable ascents (and descents).[6] Among them was his free-solo ascent of Crack of Fear, a sustained 5.10+ off-width route at Lumpy Ridge, Colorado;[citation needed] and an amazing effort on the Diamond (a 275-m wall on Longs Peak), when he free-soloed ascents of two routes and downclimbed another in a single day.[6]

Derek Hersey died on May 28, 1993, in an accident while soloing the Steck-Salathé Route without protective gear, on Sentinel Rock in Yosemite National Park.[3][4][11] He fell several hundred feet to his death.[2][4][11] Craig Luebben, a friend of Hersey, speculated that he encountered slippery rock. A spokesman for the National Park Service notes there was no rainfall in the area that day.[1] The search for Hersey's body was featured in a report on the CBS News program 48 Hours.[9][10]

External links

References

  1. ^ a b Willman, David (31 May, 1993). "Derek Hersey Death". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-31/news/mn-41958_1_sentinel-rock. Retrieved July 5, 2011. 
  2. ^ a b c d Osius, Alison (26 June, 1993). "Obituary: Derek Hersey". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-derek-hersey-1494003.html. Retrieved July 5, 2011.  (Gives Hersey's date of death incorrectly as 20 May 1993.)
  3. ^ a b c d e Ghiglieri, Michael P. and Farabee, Charles R. "Butch", Jr. (2007). Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite. Flagstaff: Puma Press. pp. 315–316, 365. ISBN 978-0-9700973-6-1. 
  4. ^ a b c Roberts, Paul (1994-11-01). "Risk". Psychology Today. http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200910/risk. Retrieved 2011-07-27. 
  5. ^ "Derek Hersey, Climber, Dies at 39 in Cliff Fall". The New York Times. 2 June, 1993. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/02/obituaries/derek-hersey-climber-dies-at-39-in-cliff-fall.html. Retrieved July 5, 2011. 
  6. ^ a b c d e f Whitehouse, Annie (1999). "An Interview with Derek Hersey". In Long, John and Sponholz, Hai-Van K. The High Lonesome: Epic Solo Climbing Stories. Helena, MT: Falcon Publishing. pp. 73–85. ISBN 1-56044-858-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=A60h26OwVYYC&pg=PA73. 
  7. ^ Climbing, April/May 1992, quoted in Ghiglieri and Farabee.
  8. ^ "1 Climbing Magazine Index 1970-1994 Issues 1 through 149 compiled by Eve Tallman & Christopher Trudeau". http://www.climbing.com/print/index/1thru149.pdf. Retrieved July 5, 2011. 
  9. ^ a b "Rescue At High Cost - CBS News". http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1999/08/27/48hours/main53458.shtml. Retrieved July 5, 2011. 
  10. ^ a b Gutman, Bill, with Frederick, Shawn (2002). Being Extreme: Thrills and Dangers in the World of High-Risk Sports. New York: Citadel Press Books. pp. 66–67. ISBN 0-8065-2354-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=YGKfVxFDXOUC&pg=PA66. 
  11. ^ a b Eldred, Sheila Mulrooney (2004-04-08). "Edge of Oblivion - Free-solo rock climbers feel spiritual lure.". Fresno Bee. http://web.archive.org/web/20081120221546/http://www.yosemite.org/newsroom/clips2004/april/040804.htm. Retrieved 2011-08-26. 
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