EISPIRATEN

Anyone know about that sweet looking ridge to smith mountain that you see from the 39 on the way to crystal lake? Starts a little lower than the bear creek trail and looks like it’s got a firebreak for the bottom part at least. Badass rocky section in the middle looks like it would be a lot of fun. Will give it a try if it cools down anytime soon but any info would be appreciated.

It's possible you are describing a route that I think Taco did. Search the TR's for Smith by Taco, etc.

Don't know which ridge you're talking about, exactly. I did this a few years back: smith-mountain-south-ridge-and-bear-creek-t6152.html

I think you're talking about the SE ridge. Taco tried that rock face. Here's his report:

20140509-smith-mtn-north-face-attempt-t5804.html

He describes the climb after a few paragraphs of preamble.

I’ve gone up the ridge a few times, though not much beyond the point at which it steepens next to the rock face. I use it to descend into the canyons to the south, which were full of beautiful huge ferns prior to the Cabin fire, I think it was named. Haven’t been back since.

Summary of the climbing attempt was it was hot, lots of loose rock and poison oak. There’s still a line up there that might be cool to climb, but getting to the base of the line is the big challenge. The large hanging tooth up there appears to have a chimney or so on one side which I planned to rope solo. I could probably be convinced to return with a partner who is resistant to poison oak, and during the winter when the temps are low. I would expect a long day.