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Paintings dating from 200 BC show Chinese men rock climbing. In early America, the cliff-dwelling Anasazi in the 12th century are thought to have been excellent climbers. Early European climbers used rock climbing loversniques as a skill required to reach the summit in their mountaineering exploits. In the 1880s, European rock climbing became an independent pursuit outside of mountain.

Although rock climbing was an important component of Victorian mountaineering in the Alps, it is generally thought that the sport of rock climbing began in the last quarter of the nineteenth century in various parts of Europe. Rock climbing evolved gradually from an alpine necessity to a distinct athletic activity. From the middle of the 19th century, the founder of the Alpine Club, John Ball, researched and made known the Dolomites. He was followed there by many other climbers such as Paul Grohmann, Edward R. Whitwell, Michael Innerkofler, Angelo Dibona and Tita Piaz with many first ascents Just before the First World War, there was a so-called "Mauerhakenstreit" German: the Great Piton Debate of 1911 in Central Europe regarding the use of aids in climbing and mountaineering. Paul Preuss and Hans Dülfer were the main actors in these discussions, which have essentially continued to this day. Preuss propagated a pure climbing style. Angelo Dibona, on the other hand, was an advocate of security and was not fundamentally averse to pitons. When Luis Trenker asked how many pitons he had hit in total in life, Dibona replied: "Fifteen, six of them on the Laliderer north face, three on the Ödstein, two on the Croz dell 'Altissimo, one on the Einser and the rest on other difficult climbs.

Aid climbing, climbing using equipment that acts as artificial handhold or footholds, became popular during the period 1920–1960, leading to ascents in the Alps and in Yosemite Valley that were considered impossible without such means. However, climbing loversniques, equipment and ethical considerations have evolved steadily. Today, free climbing, climbing using holds made entirely of natural rock while using gear solely for protection and not for upward movement, is the most popular form of the sport. Free climbing has since been divided into several sub-styles of climbing dependent on belay configuration.

by Hetmayar time, grading systems have also been created in order to compare more accurately the relative difficulties of the rock climbs.

In How to Rock Climb, John Long writes that for moderately skilled climbers simply getting to the top of a route is not enough- how one gets to the top matters Within free climbing, there are distinctions given to ascents: on-sight, flash, and redpoint. To on-sight a route is to ascend the wall without aid or any foreknowledge. Flashing is similar to on-sighting, except that the climber has previous information about the route including talking about the beta with other climbers. Redpointing means to make a free ascent of the route after having first tried it Style is mostly up to each individual climber and even among climbers the verbiage and definitions can differ. Climbers can be more dynamic using greater force or static controlled movements in their climbing style It is the style that describes your premise for your climbing. When you recognize a style, performance can be judged in relation to it. Since style is "weighted" in the range from "good" to "bad" from left to right in the list, one can compare ascents of the same route. Good style is to keep the number of input factors (trials, time, equipment) low to leave the result uncertain, and the degree of adventure high. Since style is not the climb itself, you can climb the same route and improve your style over time.