John Sherman (born 1959), nicknamedVerm (short for "Vermin") is an Americanrock climber and a pioneer in the promotion and development of the climbing discipline ofbouldering.[1] He is also a climbing writer and outdoor photographer, and the originator of theV-grade system (after his nickname),[1] for grading the technical difficulty of boulder problems, which has since become one of the dominant grading systems worldwide.[2][3]
Sherman started climbing at age 15 atIndian Rocks.[4][5] He came to prominence as one of the developers of the importantHueco Tanks bouldering area in Texas, where he made over 400first free ascents in the 1980s and early 1990s.[1] As well as being an early adopter of bouldering as a sport, through his books and writings, Sherman played an important role in the promotion and development of the sport around the world.[1] Sherman was the author of the notable 1991bouldering guidebook,Hueco Tanks Climbing and Bouldering Guide,[6] which launched the important V-grade rating system.[7][3][8] In 1992, Sherman and Bruce Pottenger designed the first commercially availablebouldering pad with the "nylon sleeve, carrying straps, dual-density replaceable foam" that would become the standard design in bouldering, which they sold as the "Kinnaloa Sketchpad".[9]
Sherman was a highly visible 'enigmatic' and 'colorful' character in the climbing world throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 2000, when reviewing Sherman's book,Sherman Exposed: Slightly Censored Climbing Stories, for theAmerican Alpine Journal, climbing writer David Stevenson said: "If you’re of the opinion that Sherman is a raving lunatic, he’d probably be the last to argue with you. In fact, you’d do well to remember that he’s the one who very self-consciously gave you that impression in the first place. Don’t let the hyperbolic style fool you—this is one very smart guy", and also: "In Sherman we see the embodiment of bothRoyal Robbins andWarren Harding, a pair whose individual values are generally understood to be mutually exclusive. But Sherman somehow takes Harding’s semper farcimas and combines it with Robins pure, ground-up ethic. I suppose one of the tricks to reading Sherman is to know when he’s joking and when he’s serious: the answer is usually both a and b."[10]
In 1988, Sherman appeared in the spring catalog for mountaineering retailerPatagonia in a photograph where he is shown drinking a bottle ofCoopers Best Extra stout beer whilefree solo climbing–in his sandals–thesport climbing routeLord of the Rings8b (5.13d), in theMount Arapiles, Australia; the image became popular amongst climbers, and Patagonia reproduced it in subsequent catalogs and also made it into a standalone poster.[11][12]
Sherman grew up inBerkeley, California and earned a degree in geology atUniversity of Colorado Boulder.[13] For many years, he pursued a mostly seasonal career working as a 'wellsite geologist' for oil exploration companies, which he attributed to giving him the financial freedom to indulge his passion for continuous travel.[13]
A classic that establishes the historical richness of bouldering's neglected evolution and should make this activity mainstream
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