15 ft left of the ever popular, This Ain't Naturita Pilgrim (5.9), is a small, discontinuous arete below a south-facing head wall. This is Smear Me A Beer and is another very worthy problem that sees far too little traffic for such a nice line. Solve the arete for 5.11b, this comes at you right away, and get established on the top of the arete. Climbing switches gears immediately. A nice entry move gains the face above for 25 feet of nice 5.10 edge climbing. Smear is another fine addition to the NTM stockpile for which I have been unable to locate any FA data. I thought this was a more interesting problem than many more popular climbs of its grade.
If you can't figure out the crux move (like me) a nice variation can be had by climbing the chimney to the left past the first bolt or so and then move right to finish the arete and upper face. This makes the climb doable at 5.10.
The guidebook calls the chimney variation 5.9, though it felt more like 5.8. The upper arete felt more like 9+/10a. One can always TR the 11b starting moves after leading the easier version. I agree with Richard re the quality of the route.
Overhang Area
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