The invention discloses a steel wire rope climbing device which comprises a carrying device, a power device, a transmission device and an idler pulley device, wherein the carrying device comprises a baseplate, a cover plate and enclosing plates; the power device and the transmission device are fixed on the carrying device; the transmission device comprises two pairs of worms and gears, which are connected with the power device through a gear pair; and the idler pulley device comprises four pairs of idler pulleys, two pairs of idler pulleys are mounted on the transmission device, and the other two pairs of idler pulleys are mounted on the carrying device. The steel wire rope climbing device can climb up and down on a group of steel wire ropes, is driven by the worms and gears, has good synchronism, can prevent skidding and lateral tilting, and can be used as an effective carrier for various instruments and equipment in mounting and operation maintenance of a group of steel wire ropes of a high facility. Through the steel wire rope climbing device, the labor intensity and security risk of workers are reduced, and the efficient development of equipment maintenance is guaranteed.