Upper Upper Chaos Canyon

Yesterday I decided to go exploring high up in Chaos Canyon/ Upper Upper ChaOs. I was lucky enough to run into a very motivated crew including Jamie Emerson, Collin Horvat, Rylan Marshall, and Jason Pinto.  It had been almost three years since I had set off into Upper Upper so I was super psyched to see this area with fresh eyes.  Jamie has been exploring this area for years now and knew of a few very sick projects that he was psyched to share with me.  

Lower Chaos is at the lake 

The first project I saw was a very sick rail boulder that Jamie found and cleaned.  He had put a good amount of time and energy into the boulder and asked me nicely to not climb it.  I have a huge amount of respect for people who devote their time trying to make amazing boulders like this a reality so I had no problem just hanging out and taking photos. This problem is truly amazing and will most definitely be one of the best boulders in the RMNP.

Jamie eying down the crux on the "Death Row Project"

Jamie made some good efforts on the boulder but didn't manage a send. Instead he took me on a hike further up the talus and showed me one of the best projects in the park, the "Ice Cave Project".  

 

The boulder is an almost horizontal roof and the climbing is all about tension on slopey holds.

                                     

Crux move

 I was able to put this amazing boulder problem together in a couple hours and called it The Shining, V13. 

The view from Death Row

Upper Upper Chaos seems to be becoming a destination in itself.  Sure the hike is long but that in no way steals from its quality.  The rock is as good or better then the rest of Chaos and there are more boulders than I can even handle.  During the day Jamie, Jason, and I found a few more projects that looks absolutely incredible.  One line that is around 30 foot long, another cave project 8bish? and a new  8b+ project. HUGE thanks to Jamie and crew for showing me around! The amount of new lines up there is massive and I hope more people get psyched to come contribute to this amazing place..