For somebody like me, the history of rock climbing has always been intriguing. I enjoy understanding the historical roots of the sport I’ve centered my life around—everything from its ancient roots and hemp ropes to the impact of World War II on climbing, new climbs on El Capitan, and the horror show (sad) that climbing Mount Everest has become. It’s all super interesting and has helped shape the sport of rock climbing we enjoy today.
In this article, I want to highlight some of the major foundations and turning points in the history of rock climbing. Keep reading for a somewhat deep (but also pretty brief) history of rock climbing. There’s a lot more to learn, but for now, this seems like a good place to start.
The Early Beginnings of Climbing Rocks
The early beginnings of rock climbing looked drastically different from the hard-crimping, dynamic bouldering, and speed climbing we know and love today. Instead of as a sport, ancient peoples climbed rocky and mountainous terrain mainly to seek out food, water, or shelter and carry out rituals. Therefore, climbing was more of a lifestyle choice and a survival tactic rater than recreation.
Climbing for Food and Water
Before humans began walking on two legs and mainly transporting themselves over the ground, they climbed trees. Tree climbing, also known as arboreal locomotion, was an invaluable tool for foraging fruit and hunting arboreal prey.
The shift from arboreal locomotion to terrestrial locomotion occurred roughly between five and eight million years ago during the late Miocene in Africa. The transition from the trees to the earth is thought to have been triggered by the fragmentation of forests into grasslands. Anthropologists have come to coin this transition from the canopy to the ground as the savannah hypothesis.
However, even after coming down from the trees, tree climbing continued to be a remarkably important skill for early-human cultures that lived in tropical rainforests on the African and Asian continents. For thousands of years after the shift to bipedalism, hunter-gatherers continued to rely on invaluable tree-climbing techniques and knowledge for daily sustenance.
Climbing for Shelter
In the Western United States, during the late 1190s, the ancestral generations of the Pueblo First Peoples built their homes into the sides of cliff alcoves. The structures ranged from small granaries used for food storage to small villages with upwards of 150 rooms that could house approximately 100 people. The Puebloens lived in cliff dwellings for almost a century before migrating south to present-day New Mexico and Arizona.
Climbing for Ritual
Prominent mountain peaks have long been sought after. Before summiting peaks became a leisure activity, climbing mountains played a critical role in the religious and spiritual practices and ceremonies of ancient cultures. The general belief was that by accessing the upper reaches of mountainous peaks, one could be closer to the gods.
For example, early Greek civilizations believed that Mount Olympus served as an important connection between heaven and earth. In South America, Pre-Incan and Incan cultures considered many summits in the Andes, including the volcanoes like Cotopaxi in Ecuador, to be sacred places. During my climbing trip in Ecuador, I climbed a mountain called Cojitambo, one of four mountains once considered to be sacred.
Mountaineering for Science and Sport
Slowly, climbing mountains became more associated with science than religion. At the time, mountaineering in the Alps, which later became known as alpinism, was largely an activity carried out by scientists and explorers, although many of the first adventurers in the Alps still had plenty of religious connotations.
In particular, the early mountaineering scientists were intrigued by high-elevation ecosystems and desired to learn about the unique flora and fauna that survived at high elevations deemed too harsh for humans. For example, John Tyndall, a physicist interested in studying the movement of glaciers, was one of the first to climb the Weisshorn in 1861. Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, one of the first to repeatedly attempt to climb Mount Blanc, was a geologist. In the case of the man who eventually became the first to summit Mount Blanc in 1786, Jacques Balmat, a French crystal hunter, it was an obsession with the mountain and a cash price that drove him.
The cash prize awarded to Balmat, the first ascensionist of Mount Blanc, is one example of how mountaineering was spurred on as a sport simultaneously alongside mountaineering as a pursuit of science. Aftward, mountaineering as a sport or leisure continued to develop in Europe during the Victorian age of the 1800s. Formations of climbing clubs like the UK-based Alpine Club gave the collection of Alps summits a competitive sport-like edge. Later, European climbing clubs would play a large role in the development of rock climbing.
The Golden Age of Alpinism
In 1854, Sir Alfred Willis, a judge in the High Court of England and hobby mountaineer, summited the Wetterhorn in the Bernes Alps 1854. Ten years later, in 1865, Edward Whymper, a British explorer, made the first ascent of the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps.
The climbing craze that took place in the European Alps from the 1850s to 1860s became known as the Golden Age of Alpinism. During that time, many of the most significant peaks around the Alps were summited for the first time.
Other iconic first ascents were established in the Alps between the two notable ascents of Willis and Whymper. For example, many of the iconic aiguille formations around France’s Chamonix were climbed for the first time, like the world-famous Aiguille du Midi in 1856 and the Aiguille de Tré la Tête in 1864, Aiguille Verte in 1865.
At the time, rich white dudes got all the glory despite almost always being guided by local climbers. Interestingly, and often forgotten, is the fact that it wasn’t just men climbing mountains in the Alps. Some women were also mountaineering during the Golden Age, like the iconic Marguerite “Meta’ Brevoort.
From Mountaineering to Rock Climbing
As mountaineering continued to gain popularity in Europe, climbers realized that they needed to keep their bodies in peak physical condition to have more success on the high peaks. So, to keep climbing (especially during the “off seasons” from mountaineering) and to keep their bodies strong, they began climbing smaller rock outcrops.
At first, what developed functioned purely as a training tool for the world’s best mountaineers. However, over time, climbing on rocks instead of gigantic mountains became an entirely new sport on its own.
The Sub-Disciplines of Outdoor Rock Climbing
As the sport of rock climbing developed, climbing-specific styles or sub-disciplines did too. Without getting too deep in the weeds, it’s easiest to think of rock climbing as either:
- Bouldering
- Aid climbing
- Traditional Climbing
- Sport climbing
Bouldering
Of all the subdisciplines of climbing that spurred the early European mountaineers and kept them motivated, bouldering is perhaps the most important. In particular, the boulder fields located around the Fontainebleau region of France were the most crucial.
Some of the earliest bordering ascents in the forests of Fontainebleau occurred during the 1870s. At the time, the Club Alpin Francais was the most prominent organization or climbing community in Font. The club used the boulders to train for bigger objectives and advance a style of climbing that occurred close to the ground on small boulders and was uncharacteristically powerful and gymnastic.
Unfortunately, during the First and Second World Wars, almost all of the bouldering progression in Font was put on hiatus. Later, in the 1950s, climbers would return to boulders to begin progressing the sport once again. For almost three decades, the bouldering in Fontainebleau continued to be the cutting edge of bouldering.
Aid climbing
Meanwhile, across the pond in the United States, North American climbers were also well on their way to expanding the sport of rock climbing. Rock climbing in North America in the 1950s largely centered around Yosemite National Park. At the time, climbers began sampling the smaller cliffs around Yosemite Valley. However, the largest walls of Yosemite, like El Capitan, were largely thought to be unclimbable. That was until big wall climbing equipment and aid climbing techniques were advanced enough for climbers to begin trying.
In 1957, Royal Robbins and his partners Mike Sherrick and Jerry Gallwass would make the first ascent of a big wall in Yosemite National Park with a route up the Northwest Face of Half Dome. One year later, Warren Harding and his troop of misfits would make the first ascent of El Capitan, a historic aid climbing feat that took over 47 days of work over 17 months. Aftward, climbers continued to establish many more new routes on El Cap’s seemingly endless walls.
Even though big wall climbing during the 1950s seemed to be the absolute pinnacle of the rock climbing world, the sport would continue to develop exponentially over the coming decades.
Traditional climbing
Throughout the 1970s, aid climbing in Yosemite National Park slowly gave way to traditional climbing, also known as traditional climbing (which is a form of free climbing). Modernized trad climbing equipment allowed Yosemite climbers to unlock new portions of previously “unclimbable terrain.”
Developing alongside the new climbing equipment was a climbing culture that prioritized free climbing instead of aid climbing. To make this possible, freakishly strong and brazen rock climbers pushed the absolute physical and mental limits of their bodies to establish new free routes. Throughout the 1970s, 80s, and especially the 90s, Yosemite climbers like Lynn Hill, the Huber Brothers, and Tommy Caldwell would rewrite the history books (and climbing grades) regarding what was previously thought possible with incredible free ascents, free soloing, and even big wall speed climbing.
Sport Climbing
North American climbers were not only developing the sport of rock climbing in Yosemite Valley. Cutting-edge climbers who also wanted to develop free climbing (instead of aid climbing) were developing new routes in other parts of the country. Specifically, they were developing a new style of free climbing called sport climbing that did not rely on traditional climbing equipment or ethics. In North America, Smith Rock State Park in Oregon during the 1980s was more or less ground zero for the development of this new style.
At the same time (and actually probably before North Americans), European climbers were also developing the sport climbing discipline. The Verdon Gorge in France is thought to be the origin of sport climbing in Europe. During the 1980s in Verdon, climbers bolted unclimbable rock faces from the top down via rappelling. With pre-established bolts, rock climbers would then free climb their way up the route, establishing new first free ascents of walls that were previously unprotectable with trad climbing equipment and, therefore, thought impossible to climb.
The Climbing Gym Craze
Throughout the 1980s and 90s, the climbing world got its first taste of what climbing could be like if climbers didn’t only climb outside but also trained indoors. After all, in order to continue advancing the sport into the modern era, especially in regard to free climbing, dirtbag climbers needed a place to train during bad weather or in between climbing expeditions. That’s where indoor climbing gyms came into play.
Homemade Walls to Train for Technical Rock Climbing
One of the first successful applications of indoor training for rock climbing was German climber Wolfgang Gullich’s dedication to the campus board. During the 1980s, Gullich was training for his mega-projet Action Directe in the Frankenkjura of Germany. To train his fingers to handle the crimpy and pocket-ridden limestone walls found in Frankenjura, Gullich invented the campus board. In 1991, after relentlessly training on his campus board, Gullich sent Action Directe, becoming the first free climb of its time to be graded 5.14d (9a).
Another prime example of the influence of early climbing gyms is the School Room in Sheffield, UK. During the 1980s and ’90s, the School Room was a more or less homemade indoor wall where all the best British climbers trained. Climbing in the School Room later inspired the invention of the Moon Board, one of climbing’s most prominent indoor training tools.
Thanks to indoor climbing, the Brits could stay in peak shape for epic first ascents on the Gritstone in the Lake District and the cliffs of North Wales (while it inevitably rained most of the year). Modern trad climbing aficionados like Pete Whitaker and Tom Randall (aka the Wide Boyz) would carry on this tradition of homemade gym climbing with the construction of their iconic crack cellar, a world-renowned DIY indoor crack climbing gym where many of the world’s best climbers like Adam Ondra and Stefano Ghisolfi have gone to test their mettle.
To this day, having a home wall is one of the most sought-after luxuries of serious recreational climbers. For the world’s best climbers, it’s a necessity. However, for the rest of us, well, we’re stuck climbing in public indoor gyms.
Modern Purpose-Built and Converted Climbing Gyms
Climbing gyms have completely transformed since the DIY days. Now, almost every major city has a modern climbing mecca. Unfortunately for some, this means that smaller mom-and-pop-style gyms have gone out of business. However, for the bulk of new rock climbers getting into the sport, modern climbing gyms are all they know.
Although some of the first indoor gyms were constructed in the 1980s and 90s, the explosion of indoor climbing didn’t really occur until the 2000s. In the decade prior to 2022, an average of 32 new gyms opened annually across the United States. In Europe, similar indoor climbing development has also occurred.
However, one major difference is that many European gyms are conversions of older buildings. This is primarily due to the lack of flat-open space. On the other hand, many modern gyms in the United States are built from the ground up, with high-end training for indoor climbing being the building’s sole purpose.
Regardless of the geographic location, the growth of modern indoor climbing gyms has allowed climbers to experience climbing regardless of their background in the sport or their accessibility to outdoor climbing areas. Indoor climbing gyms have also largely been responsible for the development of competition climbing.
Development of Rock Climbing as a Competitive Sport
Competition climbing has been a facet of the climbing world since the 1990s. However, it has grown considerably over the years. So much so that indoor climbing has almost become its own sport entirely.
The first International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) World Cup was held in 1989. For ten years, IFSC climbing events only concerned sport climbing. Finally, in 1998, speed climbing was officially introduced as an IFSC event. A year later, in 1999, bouldering was added to the competition stage.
While the IFSC events are held on the world stage, modern climbing gyms and indoor competitions have also developed at local levels. Competitive rock climbing inside has become an important money-maker for gyms and community events for locals. For example, gyms commonly host grassroots competitions for local climbers to compete for bragging rights and prizes.
In addition, nowadays, it’s much more common for gyms to have a youth climbing program with multiple coaches, defined training schedules, and sometimes multiple teams for competitive and recreational climbers. Competitive youth teams compete in regional events. Some of the best athletes from youth teams will continue with competition climbing as athletes in college on competitive climbing teams. From there, only the very best will continue onto the IFSC stage and perhaps the Olympics.
Sport Climbing in the Olympics
In 2016, while in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) added sport climbing to the Olympic agenda. Rock climbing officially became a global sport in 2020 at the Tokyo Olympics.
At the time, the IOC registered three climbing disciplines under the umbrella of sport climbing. In Tokyo, 40 athletes competed in a combined lead climbing, bouldering, and speed climbing event. While athletes could win individual events, the crown jewel for the 2020 Olympics was the combined medal for the best athlete across all three disciplines.
2020 Female Combined Medal Results
- Gold: Janja Garnbret (Slovenia)
- Silver: Miho Nonaka (Japan)
- Bronze: Akiyo Noguchi (Japan)
2020 Male Combined Medal Results
- Gold: Alberto Gines Lopez (Spain)
- Silver: Nathanial Coleman (USA)
- Bronze: Jakob Schubert (Austria)
After some pushback from athletes about the combined format for sport climbing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the IOC decided to reformat the Sport Climbing event for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Moving forward, sport climbing athletes can look forward to a separate event for Speed Climbing and a combined event for Bouldering and Lead. 68 climbing athletes have qualified for the games, scheduled to take place from July 26th through August 11th, 2024.
Rock Climbing Has Come a Long Way
What we climbers commonly refer to as rock climbing nowadays has been in extensive development for thousands of years. In the early days, climbing trees and rocks was a survival skill that afforded the earliest hunter-gatherers the ability to search for food and water. From there, climbing evolved into a way for climbers to explore the natural world in pursuit of knowledge, spiritual awakening, and recreation. Now, the activity is performed at the highest level yet to be seen, shirtless campus-bros campusing V1s in the gym while wearing rental shoes.
I’m just kidding—now, what was once a traditional practice with ancient roots in survival has become a competitive modern sport on the largest Olympic stage, serving as the pinnacle of one’s dedication to the sport.
However you enjoy rock climbing—whether you’re training to ascend Mount Everest, the Grand Teton, or Mont Blanc, free climbing on a big wall, free soloing or top roping, or talking smack about other climbers on Mountain Project—enjoy the sport in whatever way is the most fun for you. That’s the most important.
