Slovenian Gašper Pintar and Tom Livingstone from the UK have made the first ascent of a new mixed climb up the South Face of Mount Dickey (2,909m) in the Ruth Gorge, Alaska which they named The Great Wall.

The pair climbed what is one of the highest rock and combined walls in the world during an expedition between 14 and 17 April with the Alpine Association of Slovenia announcing their feat on 8 May.

During their trip to the remote Ruth Glacier in the Alaska Range, about 20 kilometres southeast of Denali, North America's highest mountain, they climbed the new route up a face that has attracted many big climbing names in the past in four days in unsettled and cold weather.

Mount Dickey, Alaska. Photo: Gašper Pintar/Alpine Assiiation of Slovenia

"On the first day of climbing we climbed six mostly mixed pitches, fixed three ropes and spent the night in camp. On the second day, we returned to the starting point, found a passage through the slabs after a few pitches of tough gear climbing and a bit of technique, and survived the first, tight bivouac overlooking the Ruth Gorge," Pintar wrote in his report.

"The south face turned out to be the best choice - we found some ice, and it didn't melt much in the sun. The third day brought wind, light snow and similarly uncomfortable stretches through the big couloir in the second half, but nice flat ground for bivouac. On the fourth day, we climbed two more pitches and the last 500 metres of a bit less steep climb up to the summit," Slovenia's best climber of 2023 added.

They named the 1600-metre new route The Great Wall and rated it M7, A1, 6a. "Wall is the classic English name for a route. We were joking a bit, which is always the goal," said Pintar, who comes from Ljubljana.

Pintar and Livingstone climbed together for the first time earlier this year in Slovenia's Julian Alps.