John Sherman

John Sherman, nicknamed Verm (short for "Vermin") is an American climber and a pioneering boulderer, who devised the V-scale for grading boulder problems. He is also a writer and photographer.

Sherman was a very visible "outsider" character in the climbing world during much of the 1980s and 1990s. An early boulderer, Sherman followed the sport from the era of searching for elusive Gill arrows to the forefront of the modern climbing world. One of the foremost developers of Hueco Tanks bouldering, he had over 400 first ascents there in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Image Credit: © Dawn Kish, all rights reserved