Ten questions with Nick Sherman ...

Sent any good projects there or around Boulder?
No, not yet, but that is the plan for the summer. Once this school semester is over, 100 percent of my time will finally be focused on climbing around Boulder and other places. This summer looks very promising, and hopefully some good classics will be sent.

Who are your favorite climbing partners, who do you travel with?
Whether at the gym or outside, pretty much anyone who wants to climb with me and does not have a bad attitude is always a good climbing partner. Boulder is a great town to meet a lot of nice and fun climbers. There is always someone to climb with, but I must say that my close partners whom I climb with the most are Daniel Woods, Seth Allred, Paul Robinson, Mark Hobson, Ryan Olson, and Mike Moelter.

Are you planning any trips for the summer?
Yeah, besides climbing a lot at Rocky Mountain National Park, I plan on actually traveling to Colombia in June to check out some projects and the climbing scene at this moment. After that, I’m traveling to California for a couple weeks with Daniel and Paul. We plan on climbing at Humble. That should be interesting, and I’m really looking forward to that.

What is your favorite after climbing treat?
Perfect question. I always eat a lot after climbing, but when there is one of those days in which I starve myself all day long because I’m climbing all the time, I really meet the definition of pigging out. That can either involve a protein shake and a healthy dinner, or if I’m way too hungry, burritos, cookies, ice cream, and whatever else falls on my path.

What takes up your time when you aren't climbing?
Other than eating, and maybe working out, right now it is only school and studying, with some time in the weekends to hang out with my friends. This winter, when I moved to Colorado, I started to get into snowboarding, but I’m sure that will die off quickly among my interests just like any other new hobby I find every year.

Would you rather get top three in an ABS comp or send a project you have been working on for a long time, why?
I would say the project, but not if it is worked for too long. This also depends on how much the project means to me, how long I have to work it for, and how much the comp means to me. It’s true that any other climber would choose the project over the comp without even thinking about it, but in my personal opinion, I do not believe in projecting routes or problems for a really long time. What I believe in is that if a project is demanding too much work from me, then maybe I’m not strong enough to do it yet and therefore should not just try to let my body learn the moves so much that it becomes a matter of muscle memory and isolated adaptation to those specific demands. If this question included the option of flashing or on-sighting something extremely difficult, then I’d definitely choose to that one without a doubt.

Do you do anything unusual to train?
When I get into serious training mode, I do not really change my climbing habits at all, what I change are habits such as dieting and physical conditioning. It is easy to see me taking serious care of what I eat and working out a lot whenever I want to improve my climbing for an upcoming event or trip. Whenever you want to take your body to that desired next level, I believe that putting your body in optimal condition is the key start in the process.