Upper Chaos Climbing

This digital Upper Chaos 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 Upper Chaos days smoother, safer, and more dialed.

***For the time being and at the time of this writing, Upper Chaos is closed to climbing. The routes here are documented for historical purposes and in the hopes that the slope will stabilize enough in the future for climbers to access some of the lower areas of Upper Chaos. A number of problems were presumed to be lost in the slide, including Brown 45, Tarzan and those problems on the Colossal Chaos Boulder. Rangers will be patrolling the area and writing expensive tickets for those climbers unwilling to follow the rules of the closure. PLEASE DO NOT ENTER THE CLOSURE ARE... Show more

This digital Upper Chaos 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 Upper Chaos days smoother, safer, and more dialed. ***For the time being and at the time of this writing, Upper Chaos is closed to climbing. The routes here are documented for historical purposes and in the hopes that the slope will stabilize enough in the future for climbers to access some of the lower areas of Upper Chaos. A number of problems were presumed to be lost in the slide, including Brown 45, Tarzan and those problems on the Colossal Chaos Boulder. Rangers will be patrolling the area and writing expensive tickets for those climbers unwilling to follow the rules of the closure. PLEASE DO NOT ENTER THE CLOSURE AREA. It is not only illegal, but unsafe and extremely dangerous at this time. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. The boulders in this guide were documented before the rockslide occurred. At the time of publication, no reconnaissance has been done on the state of boulders in the Upper Upper area. Boulders documented in this chapter may have been destroyed, buried, or changed beyond recognition.*** Set just below the tree line amongst an infinity of jumbled boulders and a backdrop of stark rock walls, Upper Chaos Canyon is one of the most beautiful and austere climbing areas in the country. The approach is long and complex, and retreat from the vicious storms that come in the summer is difficult. Many of the best hard problems lie hidden, and the motivated and intrepid climber will find outstanding steep climbing on excellent rock. The elevation of the meadow in Upper Chaos is 10,508 ft. Season: The boulders in Upper Chaos Canyon collect a copious amount of snow. If visiting before June, don’t expect too much to be climbable. Each season varies. The season typically ends here around the end of September or the beginning of October, with the first few snowfalls. There are almost no established trails in Upper Chaos. Most of the time the boulders will be approached by rock-hopping or scrambling over literally thousands of boulders. You can always get from one sector to another by talus-hopping in any direction. While this allows for a certain level of freedom, it also makes describing approaches difficult. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the complexity of the area. Retreat from here during a storm is difficult and dangerous, especially if you are unfamiliar with the talus field. From the trail junction to Lower Chaos, continue on the Lake Haiyaha Trail 10 yards, passing over a footbridge and into the forest. After crossing a small stream, you will soon come to another trail junction. This cutoff heads left to Glacier Gorge.