To start rising above a certain limit is chancy (5)
I believe the answer is:
risky
'chancy' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'to start rising above a certain limit' is the wordplay.
'to start' says to take the initial letters.
'above' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'a certain' becomes 'i' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'limit' becomes 'sky' ('the sky's the limit').
The first letter of 'rising' is 'r'.
'r'+'i'+'sky'='RISKY'
'is' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for risky that I've seen before include "admitting possibility of unpleasant outcome" , "Perilous" , "Unsafe" , "too adventurous" , "Having possibility of danger or loss" .)