Derek Hersey
{{short description|British rock climber}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox climber
|name = Derek Hersey
|image = Derek Hersey, on the climb "the Bulge" in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado.JPG
|caption = Derek Hersey, on the climb "the Bulge" in Eldorado Canyon, Colorado, circa 1990
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1956|10|26|df=y}}
|birth_place =
|death_date ={{Death date and age|1993|05|28|1956|10|26|df=y}}
|death_place =Steck-Salathé Route on Sentinel Rock in Yosemite National Park
|knownfor = Free soloing
|occupation = Rock climber
|nationality = British
}}
Image:Derek MiddendorfPhoto.jpg
Derek Geoffrey Hersey (26 October 1956 – 28 May 1993) was a British rock climber who specialized in free soloing, and was for many years an active participant in the Boulder, Colorado climbing scene in the United States.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-31-mn-41958-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|title=Premier Rock Climber Falls to His Death in Yosemite : Accident: Derek Hersey was a free-soloist, using no ropes or equipment. A friend says he may have encountered moisture and slipped on Sentinel Rock.|date=31 May 1993|access-date=15 June 2013|first=David|last=Willman}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-derek-hersey-1494003.html|newspaper=The Independent|title=Obituary: Derek Hersey|date=26 June 1993|accessdate=15 June 2013|location=London|first=Alison|last=Osius}} (Gives Hersey's date of death incorrectly as 20 May 1993.){{cite book |last1=Ghiglieri |first1=Michael P. |last2=Farabee |first2=Charles R. "Butch" Jr. |title=Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite |publisher=Puma Press |location=Flagstaff |year=2007 |pages=315–316, 365 |isbn=978-0-9700973-6-1 }}{{cite journal |first=Paul |last=Roberts |title=Risk |date=1 November 1994 |journal=Psychology Today |url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200910/risk |accessdate=15 June 2013}}
Climbing career
Originally from Stretford, Greater Manchester, England, Hersey was based in Colorado, US, and referred to Eldorado Canyon as his 'office', where he could be seen on any day of the week,{{cite book |editor1-last=Long |editor1-first=John |editor2-last=Sponholz |editor2-first=Hai-Van K |first=Annie |last=Whitehouse |title=The High Lonesome: Epic Solo Climbing Stories |chapter=An Interview with Derek Hersey |publisher=Falcon Publishing |location=Helena, MT |year=1999 |pages=73–85 |isbn=1-56044-858-X |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A60h26OwVYYC&pg=PA73 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} 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 MagazineClimbing, April/May 1992, quoted in Ghiglieri and Farabee.{{cite web|url=http://www.climbing.com/print/index/1thru149.pdf |title=1 Climbing Magazine Index 1970-1994 Issues 1 through 149 compiled by Eve Tallman & Christopher Trudeau |accessdate=5 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526023958/http://www.climbing.com/print/index/1thru149.pdf |archivedate=26 May 2011 }} and posthumously in the film Front Range Freaks. He was {{convert|5|ft|11|in}} tall and weighed {{convert|138|lb}}. He spoke with a strong Manchester accent.
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.
Hersey specialized in unroped free solo climbing, often in the 5.10–5.11 range; he died during such a free solo climb.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/02/obituaries/derek-hersey-climber-dies-at-39-in-cliff-fall.html|newspaper=The New York Times|title=Derek Hersey, Climber, Dies at 39 in Cliff Fall|date=2 June 1993|accessdate=5 July 2011}} Few climbers have tried to repeat his achievements, which include many of Colorado's hardest traditional routes.
Hersey's efforts to push the limits of free soloing earned him the nickname "Dr. Death".{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1999/08/27/48hours/main53458.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020601231722/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1999/08/27/48hours/main53458.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 June 2002|title=Rescue At High Cost - CBS News|accessdate=5 July 2011}}{{cite book |author1=Gutman, Bill |author2=with Frederick, Shawn |title=Being Extreme: Thrills and Dangers in the World of High-Risk Sports |publisher=Citadel Press Books |location=New York |year=2002 |pages=66–67 |isbn=0-8065-2354-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YGKfVxFDXOUC&pg=PA66 }} Hersey was perhaps best known for his exploits in Eldorado Canyon, but his résumé included many other challenging ascents (and descents). Among them was his free-solo ascent of Crack of Fear, a sustained 5.10+ off-width route at Lumpy Ridge, Colorado;{{citation needed|date=July 2011}} and an impressive effort on the Diamond (a {{convert|275|m|adj=on}} wall on Longs Peak), when he free-soloed ascents of two routes and downclimbed another in a single day. He was well known for pumping up and down laps on the sustained 5.10 route Rosy Crucifixion in Eldorado Canyon as a workout regime.
Death
Derek Hersey died on 28 May 1993 in an accident while soloing the Steck-Salathé Route without protective gear, on Sentinel Rock in Yosemite National Park.{{cite journal |title=Edge of Oblivion - Free-solo rock climbers feel spiritual lure. |date=8 April 2004 |first=Sheila Mulrooney |last=Eldred |journal=Fresno Bee}}, cited in {{cite web|title=Yosemite Association - Newsroom |url=http://www.yosemite.org/newsroom/clips2004/april/040804.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120221546/http://www.yosemite.org/newsroom/clips2004/april/040804.htm |archivedate=20 November 2008 |publisher=Yosemite Association |accessdate=27 February 2012 |url-status=dead }} He fell several hundred feet to his death. Craig Luebben, a friend of Hersey, speculated that he encountered a slippery rock. Although there was no rainfall officially reported in the area that day, a later report concluded that "rain-slicked rock" contributed to his fall.{{cite news
| last =Belcher
| first =Bill
| title =Free-Solo Climber Prefers the Unencumbered Ascent
| newspaper =New York Times
| location =
| pages =
| language =
| publisher =
| date = November 18, 2006
| url =https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/18/sports/othersports/18outdoors.html | accessdate = April 11, 2015}}
The search for Hersey's body was featured in a report on the CBS News programme 48 Hours.
References
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External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120221546/http://www.yosemite.org/newsroom/clips2004/april/040804.htm |date=November 20, 2008 |title=Fresno Bee article }}
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Category:British rock climbers
Category:Deaths in Yosemite National Park
Category:Mountaineering deaths
Category:People from Stretford