Smell My Finger  5.12d

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Type:  Trad, 4 pitches, 350 feet Consensus:  5.12d [details] FA:  Corey Ellison, Rodney Blackemore, & Andy Strong - 1999 Submitted By:  Josh Janes on Jun 10, 2008 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (1) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

crackMD on cranks on sport too!

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Description 

If only Smell My Finger was to Sedona face climbing what Shangri-La is to Sedona crack climbing... but alas, while good, it is not amazing. Actually, the first, third, and fourth pitch especially, are very good, but the extremely loose second pitch detracts from the overall flavor of the climb.

Begin in the shady alcove just up and left of Shangri-La. Smell My Finger is the left of the three lines -- it starts just right of a seam/corner.

P1: Climb the crimpy face past ten bolts. A thin crux can be avoided by doing some scary climbing on the left side of the arete, but up higher there is still a very difficult lunge to a gaston followed by a wild hand/foot match. Skip the rap anchors and continue up to bolts on a large ledge. 5.12d, 110'.

P2: Climb the face and arete to a botched bolt and then bust left to a chossy finger and hand crack. It was nice to have a 0.75, #1, and #2 Camalot for this section. 5.11, 70'.

P3: Head up the arete and then left onto the exposed face. A nice pitch. 5.10, 70'.

P4: Extend the belay out left and then bust up a steep "corner" system via very cool climbing to some wild huecos. Do a difficult contortion move to get back into the corner and follow this to the top of the wall. 15 bolts, 5.12, 100'.

Rap the route with a single rope (bring some webbing) or rap Shangri-La.

Protection 

16 draws. Thin hand and hand-size cams.