Big Chief Climbing

This digital Big Chief climbing guidebook gives you GPS navigation, verified topos, and beta for hundreds of climbs. Explore classics and hidden gems with offline access to maps, directions, and beta videos. Whether it's your first visit or fiftieth, KAYA makes your Big Chief days smoother, safer, and more dialed.

Big Chief is one of the best sport crags is the Tahoe area. Located on the backside of the cliff, facing north east, is a small collection of boulders. Off to the south between Big Chief and Light Deprivation Buttress is the highlight of the area, The Ashtray. The Ashtray is a stand alone boulder, which was forever brought into the limelight when Chris Sharma came to town and sent the long standing classic line up the main face. It is one of the most impressive andesite boulder problems I have ever seen and if you climb at this level it’s a must do! Also included in this secti... Show more

This digital Big Chief climbing guidebook gives you GPS navigation, verified topos, and beta for hundreds of climbs. Explore classics and hidden gems with offline access to maps, directions, and beta videos. Whether it's your first visit or fiftieth, KAYA makes your Big Chief days smoother, safer, and more dialed. Big Chief is one of the best sport crags is the Tahoe area. Located on the backside of the cliff, facing north east, is a small collection of boulders. Off to the south between Big Chief and Light Deprivation Buttress is the highlight of the area, The Ashtray. The Ashtray is a stand alone boulder, which was forever brought into the limelight when Chris Sharma came to town and sent the long standing classic line up the main face. It is one of the most impressive andesite boulder problems I have ever seen and if you climb at this level it’s a must do! Also included in this section are Bob’s Backyard Boulders, The Belly Flop Boulder and Light Deprivation Buttress. Bob’s Backyard Boulders are just off the Fiberboard Highway and are very similar to the Big Chief and Old County boulders. The Belly Flop Boulder is a stand alone granite boulder located all by itself just off the Fiberboard Highway on the way to Big Chief. And finally there are some boulders at the base of Light Deprivation Buttress, one of which sports a few hard, classic lines that at the time of printing still remain undone. DRIVING: From downtown Truckee take Brockway Drive towards Northstar and North Lake Tahoe. At the 7-11 right across the street from the skatepark turn right onto Palisades Drive. Continue for 0.4 miles and veer left onto Ponderosa. Continue for another 0.4 miles and turn right onto Silver Fir. Again, go for 0.4 miles and turn left on Thelin. Go for 0.1 miles and turn right onto Forest Road #06, aka the Fiberboard Highway. Reset your odometer when the road turns to dirt and go straight for 4.7 miles, not taking any of the turns. At 4.7 miles turn right onto a small dirt road and park after 50 yds in the obvious parking area. This is the main parking lot for the Big Chief sport climbing area, which can get crowded, so please be considerate when parking and leave room for other cars. APPROACH: From the parking lot walk on the decommissioned dirt road for 15 minutes to the back of Big Chief. The road ends here, turns into a climbers trail and small boulders start to appear. Just as the trail starts to go uphill cut left into a boulder strewn gully. Walk up the gully with scattered boulders and much deadfall staying right of a big rock formation for 3-5 minutes until you arrive at the circuit. There is a lot more bouldering to do around the backside of Big Chief that is not in this guide or has not been climbed yet. For The Ashtray and Light Deprivation Buttress: Walk the decommissioned road for about 5 minutes until you come into a small clearing. Look for a faint old road going left and maybe some cairns. Take this faint road for 10 minutes until it turns into a footrail and continue for another 3 minutes to the base of Light Deprivation Buttress. The boulders are obvious and sit at the base. For The Ashtray, just before you arrive at Light Deprivation Buttress you will run into a mountain bike single track. Go right on the single track and after 3-4 minutes the Ashtray will be just to your left. Simply keep in mind the single track will lead you right to the Ashtray.