‘Old Man Lightning,’ story of legendary climber’s comeback, comes to Carbondale’s 5Point Film Festival

Director, photographer and storyteller Dawn Kish didn’t set out to make a decade-long film when she began documenting rock climber John “Verm” Sherman’s story in 2016.

What began as a comeback story became a testament to letting go and the importance of personal victories, both big and small. 

Now, the witty and inspiring film “Old Man Lightning” will screen at the 2026 5Point Adventure Film Festival in Carbondale on Tuesday and Thursday. 

When Kish began filming back in 2016, Sherman was in his late 50s and had swapped his legendary climbing career for bird photography and drinking. Determined to get back into shape, he set his sights on conquering Yosemite’s famed Midnight Lightning boulder problem again, 25 years after first solving it.

“He got really out of shape, and then decided to start training for Midnight Lightning, and when he said that, he also said not only do I want to train for this, but I want you to film it,” Kish, who at the time was in a relationship with Sherman, said. “It was just something he wanted me to do.”

So Kish picked up her camera and documented Sherman’s transformation. He regained his strength through years of rigorous training, but became caught in a cycle of injury and recovery as he faced one setback after another: twisted ankles, bent fingers and countless broken bones. 

“It was really hard for me to watch him get hurt over and over again…,” Kish said. “From my point of view (climbing Midnight Lighting) is not as important as, let’s say, having a good time climbing or traveling or something else besides something that’s so difficult for his body.”

Kish also turned the camera on herself, recording moments of self-doubt in video clips she calls “I-Journals.”

“(There) were moments of ‘Why are we doing this?'” Kish said. “We should just be having fun climbing and traveling and enjoying life, and it seemed like it was constantly back into surgery again, and constantly rehabbing again, and we were losing our lives.”

By July 2019, the couple had broken up, but they were still determined to finish the film. By then, it was already three years in the making. 

“I think there were quite a few more injuries afterwards after we broke up and he was just depressed,” Kish said. “I said, ‘look, I can feel you’re depressed. We don’t have to keep doing this…this is not fun anymore for you.

“Then he would tell me about this other climbing area that he is developing and having so much fun with, I was like, ‘Wait, so that’s your happy place now?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah,'” Kish said. “I was like, ‘Well, let’s end the movie. This is it. This is your moment. You did everything you set out to do.'”

Although the story didn’t unfold how either Kish or Sherman thought it would, Kish hopes “Old Man Lightning” inspires people to keep chasing their goals while recognizing the value of smaller victories.

“It doesn’t always have to be the hardest thing you could possibly do…they could just be smaller goals and they could be just as happy…like his happy place at the end,” Kish said. “Maybe nobody knows about this place, but he doesn’t want anybody to know. This is just going to be his little getaway and his own little place where he can go climb and not have to worry about doing anything or proving to anybody anything.

“Especially proving (something) to himself,” she added. “He doesn’t need to do that anymore.”