Chris Letchford and Travis Levrier grew up in the same neighborhood, but never played music together until 2004,[2] after they reconnected a few years earlier in a record store discussing a common interest, Between the Buried and Me.

[5] They first noticed Skeffington when they saw him wearing a Between the Buried and Me T-shirt with drumsticks protruding from his backpack, and Eberhardt joined in response to an ad the trio placed on Myspace.

"[5] Although the band played typical progressive metal with a vocalist in Houston, Letchford and Levrier noted a change in their sound when they started writing again in Los Angeles.

[2] Letchford later explained that despite enjoying the area's natural beauty he felt the music scene in Los Angeles was too crowded and difficult to survive in.

[6] Scale the Summit's first release was a demo[9] that they personally handed-out at shows in limited quantities,[2] and their first album, Monument, was self-funded[5] and self-released.

Also in 2011, the band toured with Periphery and Fair to Midland, The Human Abstract, Cynic, 3, Protest the Hero, Last Chance to Reason, Volumes, Structures, Rings of Saturn, and The Contortionist.

In April 2012, Jordan Eberhardt left the band, citing his reluctance to continue touring full-time; he was replaced by Mark Michell.

[10] In November 2012, Letchford announced that the band had started writing material for their fourth album, The Migration, which was released on June 11 the following year.

[5] Due to rhythmical complexity ("off-time chugs"), the use of extended range guitars, and the general "vibe", their music is often ascribed to be djent despite much of their material being "clean channel" which contradicts the early onomatopoeic etymology of the genre's name.