The searchable digital collection will include images taken using glass plate photography 160 years ago.
Glasgow-born climber, keen photographer and founder of Rab mountain clothing, Rab Carrington, has been helping to head up the project.
It will be officially unveiled at the Kendal Mountain Festival in November.
Among the oldest images that will be available to the public in the archive were taken by brothers George and Ashley Abraham of the Lake District in the late 19th Century.
Pictures of Gwen Moffat, Britain's first female mountain guide, will also feature.
Other photographs have been provided by climbing clubs, including the Alpine Club and Fell and Rock Climbing Club.
Mr Carrington told BBC News Scotland online that one of the features of the archive would be that it would show the changes in climbing styles over the centuries.
He said: "We have already obtained permission to put a range of images from the Alpine Club and Fell and Rock, and the Abraham Brothers family will be making a strong contribution.
"The Climbers Club have also chipped in with some 1950s images of Gwen Moffat climbing in the style of that day.
"We will now be seeking to have further representation from private individuals depicting Himalayan achievements from the 1970s right up to getting cutting edge first ascents from 2010s.
"The archive will show how styles of climbing have changed over the last 150-160 years, from the use of hobnail boots to plimsolls and bare feet to the footwear worn by today's climbers."

A witness said the victim, named locally as Aqib Mazhar, was stabbed in the back after being targeted by a gang armed with bricks and poles.
The victim, who was in his 20s, was attacked in Russell Road, Forest Fields, on Wednesday evening.
Nottinghamshire Police said he died in hospital and have appealed for anyone with information to contact them.
The Jamia Masjid Sultania mosque in Sneinton wrote in a tribute on its Facebook page: "Our prayers go out to Aqib Mazhar from Forest Fields who passed away last night after being attacked on Russell Road with a knife.
"May Allah swt make it easy on his family during this difficult time."
The witness said there were several young men in three cars, which all stopped in the street.
"They were throwing bricks, they had poles," she said.
She dialled 999 at about 20:35 BST and went to try to help.
"As I turned him onto his side all the blood just [went] all over the pavement," she said.
A 23-year-old man was arrested late Thursday afternoon.
A 21-year-old man was also arrested later that day and an 18-year-old was arrested on Friday morning.
Police said more than 80 officers were involved in the murder investigation.

Carolyn Fairbairn said she had rarely stayed to the end of such corporate functions because she was bringing up her three children.
Along with sporting events, the black-tie dinners are seen as places to do business, she said.
But she has "never been a fan", and added that "a lot of women aren't".
"They'd rather go home to their families in the evening," Mrs Fairbairn said. "Maybe the business dinner is a vestige of old business life."
An alternative, she said, might be to host an "early evening discussion panel, hold a proper debate, and then people can go home by 7.30pm".
In one of her first interviews since taking over earlier this month, Mrs Fairbairn said it would be "terrific" if her appointment inspired women to look at business careers.
"There has been good progress on reaching the 25% target of women on boards, but there is a long way to go, especially among senior management," she added.
The new CBI director general also expressed confidence that Europe would not tear the employers' group apart.
Campaigners have criticised the CBI for being too pro-EU, but Mrs Fairbairn said most of its members "want to stay in a reformed European Union".
She was also optimistic about the UK economy, as long as issues such as productivity, skills and infrastructure were tackled.
A National Archive of Historic Mountaineering Images is to be launched by the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) later this year.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
Three men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man was fatally stabbed in a Nottingham street.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
The first female chief of business lobby group the CBI has criticised business dinners as "not very inclusive" for women.