Getting a whiff of, going up (6)
I believe the answer is:
ascent
'going up' is the definition.
(ascending means going up)
'getting a whiff' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'a' is present in the answer.
'whiff' could be 'scent' (I've seen this before) and 'scent' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'of' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ascent that I've seen before include "Upward journey" , "progress" , "Upward slope" , "Alpine expedition" , "Upward climb" .)