EP 110: “The Verm” Returns — Life Lessons at Age 62, Fun Facts About Birds, and Injury Stories

This is round 2 with John Sherman aka “The Verm”. We sat in the desert near Hueco Tanks and chatted over a few beers. We talked about ‘Wheatiesgate’ and the lost art of heckling, finding and developing areas before the internet, dealing with aging, photographing and studying birds, life lessons, injury stories, and John’s favorite beers.

*I recommend listening to my first episode with Verm (EP 108) before this episode.

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Show Notes:

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/the-verm-returns

Nuggets:

0:06:39 – The Michael Salem catalog

0:09:33 – West Texas in the early 80s

0:17:02 – ‘Wheatiesgate’ and the lost art of heckling

0:27:16 – Patron question from Eli: As bouldering has evolved, what has stayed the same?

0:28:39 – Adventureland, and the experience of climbing boulders without names or stars or grades

0:34:39 – Finding Ibex, UT, and discovering new areas before Google Earth

0:41:40 – Patron question from Brandon: What advice would The Verm give to a new climber?

0:48:09 – Aging, prostates, and swollen knuckles

0:55:34 – Hangdogging, new-age tactics, and why John feels like Jason Kehl is a kindred spirit

0:58:33 – What has surprised John about aging, and how baby birds poop

1:02:09 – Cognitive decline, and other scary things that come with age

1:06:32 – Taking his foot off the gas, getting out of shape, and calorie counting

1:10:29 – Getting an amazing personal trainer, and fixing his elbow issues by fixing his shoulders

1:17:52 – Patron question from Brandon: What got you into birding? And what about it got you hooked?

1:24:27 – Patron question from Brandon: Has birding taught you any life lessons?

1:42:27 – Injury stories and life lessons

2:31:29 – Developing bouldering in Ibex, UT

2:37:02 – A year in Verm’s life, and tick marks

2:44:10 – Return of the harrier, and more bird facts

2:52:10 – Favorite books and short stories

2:57:59 – Verm’s memoir idea, favorite books, and sports

3:07:50 – Climbing with Paul Robinson and Michaela Kiersch

3:14:59 – The compression revolution, John Gill, slab dynoing, and the Hoover Maneuver

3:23:59 – Patron question from Brandon: Top three beers? (and the De Garre story)

3:38:20 – Patron question from Craig: What bird best represents your personality? (and duck penises)

3:46:15 – Patron question from Craig: What bird would John Gill be?

3:53:04 – The baboon story