Torre di Brenta

The Torre di Brenta reaches 3,014 metres and is the main peak of the Catena degli Sfulmini, as well as being one of the 86 summits in the Dolomites that exceed three thousand metres. It overlooks the Conca degli Armi, the glacier of the same name and, below, the Alimonta refuge.

It is a massive tower, rising between the Bocchetta Alta degli Sfulmini and the Bocca degli Armi. The north face is a tall rock wall furrowed by deep chimneys, while the south-west and south-east walls are more compact and vertical. The dolomite rock is good and the Alimonta, Pedrotti and Brentei refuges are close by: for this reason it is a peak much frequented by rock climbers. Together with the Campanile Basso, the Campanile Alto and the Sfulmini it forms the recognisable heart of the Dolomiti di Brenta, that succession of spires and ledges which the Via ferrata delle Bocchette Centrali crosses at about 2,700 metres.

The first climbers were Edward Theodore Compton, a German illustrator and mountaineer known for his paintings and drawings of Alpine landscapes and the first to climb at least 27 peaks, and the Molveno mountain guide Matteo Nicolussi, the same man who in 1884 had made the first ascent of the Crozzon di Brenta. They climbed by what is still the easiest route, the normale nord.