The French hill climb championship, or Championnat de France de la Montagne started in 1967 and rapidly became one of the continent's most competitive national series. For much of its history, the leading cars have been from Formula 2 (later Formula 3000 from 1985) or 2-litre sports cars. Some F1 cars were seen in the 1960s and occasionally in the 1970s (for example Daniel Rouveyran's March 721G in 1973) and Hervé Bayard also tried a Formula 5000 car in the early 1970s.

Marces Tarrès won the championship 10 times between 1982 and 1992. Nicolas Schatz holds the record for most consecutives titles: 7, between 2010 and 2016.

The best known champion outside of France is Guy Fréquelin. Other well known rally drivers were regular participants, such as Jean Vinatier, Gérard Larrousse, Jean-Luc Thérier or Jean-François Mas. Several French Formula One drivers have taken part in the championship too, such as Robert Manzon, Maurice Trintignant, Jean Behra, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, François Cevert or Jean-Pierre Jabouille.

Three French hill climb champions have also won the European championship: Robert "Jimmy" Mieusset (1973 and 1974), Jean-Marie Alméras (1978, 1979 and 1980), and Lional Régal (2008).