The hard compact dolomite with a high magnesium content was formed during the Upper Triassic period. The DÖAV Sektion Bremen decided to construct a large mountain hut at the rocky saddle just above the Rifugio Tosa in 1897. Several other peaks are more than 2800 m high. Subsequent erosion carved out the dolomitic landscape with its steep vertical pinnacles, as we know it now. A year later he reached the summit of the Cima Tosa, only to find out that a few days earlier, on July 20, 1865, the summit had been claimed by Bepi Loss from Primiero and his companions. Northern Sector comprising the Northern chain and the subgroup of La Campa. Therefore, geographically, they have not always been considered a part of the Dolomites mountain ranges. [23] A completion of the whole south-north itinerary departing from Rif. Castiglioni-Buscaini, CAI Guida dei Monti d'Italia: Dolomiti di Brenta, CAI-TCI (1977), page 26-29. "From Riva to Pinzolo by Molveno" Alpine Journal I, page 442-444, 1864, See also: "A Guide to the Eastern Alps" in The Alpine Guide Longmans, London, 1868, Douglas Freshfield, "Italian Alps", Longmans Green&Co, London, 1875 (reprinted 1972 by the SAT "Le Alpi Italiane"). At a later stage the itinerary of vie ferrate was extended towards Passo del Grostè by means of the Sentiero Benini and still later on extended further over the Northern Chain towards Rifugio Peller: Sentiero Costanzi.[21]. DÖAV, 1893-94. For these climbers the peaks and pinnacles of the Central Chain - made up of solid Dolomia principale- remain the main attraction. The main peaks are formed of hard compact dolomite, while the peripheral subgroups often are made up of more calcareous dolomite or limestone. Silvio Girardi: Molveno, Andalo, Fai della Paganella, Manfrini 1973, page 193; Castiglioni, page 32. The Dolomiti di Brenta are the ninth and last of the systems forming the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Site. Highest peak: Cima Tosa (3,173 m) First ascent of Cima Tosa: Loss von Primiero, 1865 Important peaks: Crozzon di Brenta, Cima Ambiez, Cima Mandron, Torre di Brenta, Campanile Basso Location: Trentino, between Lake Garda and Ortles Mountain huts: Rifugio S. Agostini, Rifugio Alimonta, Rifugio Brentei (closed in 2020 for renovation work), Rifugio Dodici Apostoli, Rifugio Graffer al Grostè, Rifugio Pedrotti/Tosa, Rifugio Tuckett - Quintino Sella. After Karl Schulz[13] had reached the third and highest summit of the Crozzon di Brenta and reported his findings, other German and Austrian alpinist found their way to the Brenta Group. At several locations there are colonies of alpine marmots (Marmota marmot). They are located in the Province of Trentino, in northeastern Italy. The spirit of Irredentismo was increasingly present among the local alpinists, who had founded in 1872 their own Società degli Alpinisti Tridentini. [4] A beautifully illustrated contemporary description of Welschtirol in: Prof Dr Max Haushofer: "Tirol", Velhagen und Klasing, Leipzig/Bielefeld (1899) page 170-192, Eduard Richter, u.a. Skiarea Campiglio Dolomiti di Brenta SEE ALL. From a geological point of view, the Dolomiti di Brenta describe the history of the Dolomites from the Permian to the Jurassic. He and his companions Francis Fox Tuckett and the French guide François Devouassoud from Chamonix. The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) and the wood grouse (Tetrao urogallus) find a protected home in these mountains. He became a founding member of the prestigious Club Alpino Accademico Italiano (CAAI) in 1904. An exhaustive overview of particulars about all these early alpinists is to be found on. An English guidebook: Graham Fletcher & John Smith:"Via Ferratas of the Italian Dolomites: Vol.2 Southern Dolomites, Brenta and Lake Garda", Cicerone. The main mountain passes of the Brenta Group are: The Brenta Group had probably been frequently explored by local hunters, but the scientific and alpinistic exploration started in 1864[6] when John Ball, (Irish-)British explorer and founder of the British Alpine Club, undertook the east-west traverse of the Brenta Group over the Bocca di Brenta. The softer, more calcareous material was deposited later, in the late Triassic and early Jurassic period. It is the only dolomitic group west of river Adige. The system stands out for its majestic forms, more austere and less plastic than the rest of the Dolomites. Although the remnants of hugh moraines suggests that the Brenta group was once encapsulated by big glaciers, the remnants of those are now very modest and have been steadily shrinking over the course of the last hundred years. The massifs can be classified into geometric figures like prisms and parallelepipeds, and their aesthetic value is celebrated in literature. [25] Signed mountain paths cross the entire Brenta Dolomites, giving access to much frequented areas of these mountains. Cookies are used on this website to improve its usage. The Brenta Group was one of the last places in Italy where endemic bears (Ursus arctos) could find a habitat. This page was last edited on 4 June 2020, at 23:27. De Falkner was actually of Swiss noble descent, becoming an avid Garibaldino in the 1860s. Besides that, the explorative character of alpinism gave way to the ascent of rock climbing as a sport. [19] During the First World War the Brenta Group remained undisturbed by warfare and it is fair to conclude that after Trentino became allocated to Italy at the Treaty of Versailles, the exploration of the Brenta Group had been largely completed. The system is bounded to the south by the Giudicarie, to the north by the Val di Sole valley, to the east by the Val di Non valley and to the west by the Val Rendena valley. Its fauna is among the richest of the Alps and includes all animal species which find their habitat on the mountains; bear, chamois and alpine ibex included. Later, in 1968-'69 the itinerary was extended towards the Bocca del Tuckett by a trajectory called Via delle Bocchette Alte, a challenging itinerary that reaches a quota of 3002 meters and traverses the Cima Brenta east face just under the summit. Agostini along the Sentiero Castiglioni, Sentiero dell'Ideale, Bocchette Centrali, Bocchette Alte, Sentiero Benini and Sentiero Costanzi, ending at Rifugio Peller would require in total approximately 28 walking/climbing hours. In the history of alpinism, the Brenta Dolomites had an important role to play. "Expeditions in the Brenta Group", Alpine Journal XI, page 413-414, 1874. All described in the Castiglioni guide, but some also in: Annette Köhler, Norbert Memmel: "Kletterführer Dolomiten", Rother Verlag, http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/Europe/Italy/Dolomites/Brenta/, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brenta_group&oldid=960795118, Articles containing Italian-language text, Wikidata value to be checked for Infobox mountain, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Central Sector, comprising the Sfulmini chain and the. Experience the mountain SEE ALL. These men, who all would become main figures of the Golden Age of Alpinism were active in the Brenta Group and Presanella in 1871 and 1872. Most hikers come to the Brenta Group[22] to hike along the Via della Bocchette and connected vie ferrate, like Sentiero Castiglioni. The northern Brenta Dolomites are much wilder. [10] The latter built up a career as an artist in Germany and had fully integrated into the ranks of the Deutsch-Oestereichische Alpen Verein (DÖAV), for which he made a large series of paintings and illustrations, also featuring the Brenta Group in some remarkable images. The old Strada del Ponale offers great views of Lake... Lake Garda cycle track: Riva del Garda - Torbole - Mori. Autumn Top hikes SEE ALL. In 1871 they reached the summit of the Cima Brenta. The work on the Via dell Bocchette Centrali started in 1935. T.i. Examples of his work available in Wikimedia Commons: E.T. A treasure! These wild remote areas pose their own specific challenges and a hike in these areas requires cautious preparation. The Brenta Dolomites are about 40 km long and 12 km large and are bounded by the Val di Sole, the Valle di Non, Lake Molveno and the Paganella mountain chain. The hard dolomite (dolomia principale) was originally formed during the Mesozoic era, under the surface of the shallow Tethys Ocean, some 200 million years ago. Much of the work at that stage was done by the Brenta guides of that era: Bruno Detassis[20] and Enrico Giordano. The ski slopes are located on the west side of the Brenta Group in Val Rendena surrounding the ski resorts of Madonna di Campiglio and Pinzolo. VAT code: IT02654890215. As part of the Dolomites, the Brenta Group[2] has been officially recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Site[3] under the World Heritage Convention. The era of sports climbing had begun and innumerable climbing routes in all possible difficulty rates were traced on the vertical walls of these mountains over the years. Ghedina (1126 m.) a.o. Traditionally, the Brenta glaciers were relatively small and called "vedrette". [18] When the last undisturbed major peak in the Brenta Group, Campanile Basso, was finally climbed by Berger and Ampferer in 1899, it appeared that they had heavily relied on the work of Garbari and Pooli, who had stopped just 35 meters off the summit. Thanks to the presence of a special type of algae, in summer the waters of the Tovel Lake used to turn red. The Dolomiti di Brenta, rising inside the nature reserve Parco Naturale Adamello Brenta, are a long mountain range stretching for 42 km and with a width of 12 km in a series of peaks, ramparts, gullies, rocky plateaus and pinnacles of the most varied shapes and sizes. Well-preserved stratigraphic succession. The Adamello-Brenta Nature Reserve is characterised... From Pra Rodont to the Movlina mountain hut, Waterfalls of Vallesinella and Tuckett Mountain Hut. Recent research has suggested that Cima Tosa is not as high as 3173 metres and is probably lower than Cima Brenta. The Brenta Dolomites are about 40 km long and 12 km large and are bounded by the Val di Sole, the Valle di Non, Lake Molveno and the Paganella mountain chain. Characteristic for this area are also a large number of fixed rope routes in various degrees of difficulty. Some peripheral subgroups, like Ghez, Daino, Vallon and Campa are far away from all the touristic attention - even on an August day. Eventually, these layers were pushed upwards by the tectonic activity that led to the formation of the Alps during the Eocene, starting some 66 million years ago and leading to the formation of folds and thrust faults. See Italian and German Wikipedia: Bruno Detassis. Croz dell'Altissimo (1430 m), Rif. Geologically, the Brenta Group is very different from the granite-formed neighboring mountain groups like Ortles and Adamello/Presanella. The Paganella Ski Area can offer around 50 km of piste, facilitated by 16 lifts. The access to the peaks and pinnacles of the central part of the Brenta Group was facilitated by the construction -by order of the SAT- of a via ferrata that would respectfully avoid the summits but would connect the passes and indentures called bocchette between the peaks. Those areas, however, are somehow less interesting for the vertical rock climbers because of the fragility of the more calcareous rock. Compton. Since 1964 this doesn’t happen anymore, maybe due to environment pollution. See also: Extensive overview of the Via delle Bocchette in Castiglioni's CAI TCI Guide, as well as Enzo Gardumi, Fabrizio Torchio: "Dolomiti di Brenta", Casa editrice Panorama, Trento 1999, page 144-145. Around the turn of the century a competitive spirit developed between Italian and German speaking alpinists, which took its main inspiration from the emerging nationalistic feelings in the region. [15] German speaking alpinists like Gottfried Merzbacher, Steck, Mayr, Adang, Heinemann[16] and others left their mark on the Brenta Dolomites. [8] Other British mountaineers of that era that would add to the exploration of the Brenta Group were Arthur John Butler (a.o. 1884: Cima degli Armi, 1885: Campanile Alto), Albert de Falkner[9] and Edward Theodore Compton (1881: Crozzon di Brenta). For this reason it is also the habitat of a group of bears, which is the last in the alpine area. The itinerary completed two years later enabled climbers to reach the apex of the Campanile Basso Via Normale. [17] A similar situation was created at Passo Tuckett where the SAT had constructed the small rifugio Sella in 1905 and the DÖAV Sektion Berlin built a larger hut right next to it. Significant intrinsic and extrinsic geodiversity. In the south they are bounded by the Valli Giudicarie and in the west by the Val Rendena. Spend unique and special moments with the family, Holidays characterized by nature, sports and wellness, Relaxing vacation in the heart of the Dolomites, Harmony and wellbeing for body and soul alike, Live a unique experience in the Dolomites. Other mountain groups of similar geological structure are spread along the River Piave to the east – Dolomiti d'Oltrepiave; and far away over the Adige River to the west – Dolomiti di Brenta (Western Dolomites). please enable javascript in order to see this section, Home Highlights Nature and landscape Mountains in Trentino Brenta Dolomites, The longest mountain chain in the east of the…, © 2006 - 2020 Peer S.r.l. Mount Peller, the northernmost peak of the Dolomiti di Brenta, between the valleys Val di Non and Val di Sole, and the Pian della Nana plateau with its lush pastures. The antagonism with the Germanic climbers was exacerbated by an alleged practice of piggybacking on Italic efforts. The building was turned over to the SAT after the war and was named after the British alpinist and explorer Francis Fox Tuckett. The Dolomiti di Brenta can be divided into 4 separate sections: the southern section with Cima Tosa, the highest peak of the group; the central section, made of Main Dolomite, with the peaks Brenta and Grosté; the northern section with the Pietra Grande and Sasso Rosso; and the section of Campa with Monte Corona. The completion of the Italian unification in 1870 triggered expectations in Italian speaking Tyrol. This number was attained by adding up the duration of the time needed for all these parts, as indicated in Gardumi-Torchio and Castiglioni. The central Brenta Dolomites are characterised by the most beautiful peaks and are accessible from Molveno and Madonna di Campiglio. The difference is clearly noticeable for the climber who gets a much more compact and reliable rock on the peaks of the central part of the Brenta Group than in the peripheral subgroups.