Derek Hersey

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Derek Hersey (right) and friends making PBJ sandwiches, Yosemite Valley, CA

"Mention work, and I run away" - the motto of a truly professional rock climber.

Derek Hersey (1957 – 28 May 1993) 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. Few climbers have tried to repeat his achievements, which include many of Colorado's hardest traditional routes.

Originally from Manchester, Hersey was also known for his beatnik lifesytle and easygoing personality. Hersey was universally regarded as a kindly, modest man 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, as long as he wasn't on a road trip to Yosemite National Park, or someplace else. 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, and posthumously, in the film Front Range Freaks.

Hersey was perhaps most famous for his exploits in Eldorado Canyon, but his resume includes many other remarkable 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; 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.

Derek Hersey died on May 28, 1993, in an accident while soloing the Steck-Salathe route without protective gear, on Sentinel Rock in Yosemite. He apparently encountered slippery rock when bad weather moved in, and fell several hundred feet to his death. His is the only confirmed death from free soloing in that park.