Bouldering Legend John "Verm" Sherman

Prior to John Sherman’s arrival on the climbing scene back in the time of the Stonemasters, bouldering wasn’t really taken seriously. There was no meaningful, open-ended grading system to compare problems, and Hueco Tanks was just some place in West Texas. John changed all that, and did so before bouldering pads existed.

In the years since casting his long shadow over the sport, John has dedicated himself to wildlife photography, with a particular focus on working to protect the California Condor. He filled me in on how photography and bouldering are linked, what has been lost in climbing since his heyday, and why he thinks there are more impressive feats than Alex Honnold’s free solo of El Cap.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• “Are you chopping lines in the background?” (1:52)
• Episode Introduction (2:05)
• What will you be remembered for most as a climber? (4:40)
• What are you most afraid of being remembered for? (6:30)
• How do you sandbag masterfully? (8:20)
• Do you resent crowding at the crags you developed? (11:05)
• What’s the biggest problem in the sport today? (14:05)
• Is there anything you wish remained with the sport from your heyday? (21:24)
• Does Honnold rehearsing his free solo of The Nose change the accomplishment? (27:15)
• When did you get into photography? (34:21)
• How does wildlife photography compare to bouldering? (36:45)
• Why Condors? (40:30)
• Does your irreverent bent carry over to the photography world? (51:15)
• Is “Old Man Lightning” still going forward? (59:40)
• How can people contribute to Condor recovery? (1:03:05)
• Outro (1:03:52)

Presented by Rhino Skin Solutions

Rhino Skin Solutions makes high-end skin care products for climbers, by climbers. No matter where you climb or how hard, sandstone, granite, limestone, and plastic are all brutal on your skin, and there’s no sense missing a day on the wall because of blisters or splits. And there’s no reason to grease off your project when there are better solutions out there then chalking up every 4 moves. On top of all that, Rhino Skin Founder Justin Brown sits on the board of the Smith Rock Group, which helps plan and fundraise for various maintenance projects at Smith Rock State Park.

We’re donating all our proceeds from the show, after production costs, to the American Safe Climbing Associate and the Access Fund. Rhino Skin is fully behind this effort and has offered to knock 10% off your order and kick an additional 10% over to the Access Fund when you use the promo code “Blister” at checkout.

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