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Cima Brenta

3,151 m

Italy

Elevation
3,151 m
Prominence
1,501 m
Difficulty
5/10
Easy alpine
Best Season
Jul–Aug
Routes
2

Routes

2
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Open 3D
AlpinePDUIAAIISources differ: EEA – AR – II – PD (CAI) (SAT Ton; VieNormali.it) · II+ (VieNormali.it (Cima Brenta Est gullies, 2023))Rock ridgeNormal route

Sources differ: EEA – AR – II – PD (CAI) (SAT Ton; VieNormali.it) · II+ (VieNormali.it (Cima Brenta Est gullies, 2023))

The highest of the Brenta Dolomites by the line of Garbari (1892) and Barth (1902): from Vallesinella to Rifugio Tuckett, over the Bocca di Tuckett (2,648 m) onto the cabled Via delle Bocchette Alte and the Cengia Garbari ledge at about 3,000 m, then cairned gullies with grade II steps and very loose ground to the 3,151 m summit. About 1,640 m and 5 hours up.

Elevation Profile

approximate line
1,5002,0002,5003,0003,5000 km246Rifugio CasineiRifugio Tuckett e SellaCima Brenta
Distance
7.7 km
one way
Ascent
+1,665 m
start → summit
High Point
3,151 m
Time Up
6h 37m
DIN 33466
Time Down
4h 27m
DIN 33466 · same way back

From the Vallesinella car park (about 1,520 m, reached by a 5 km road from Madonna di Campiglio with timed access and paid parking in summer) take path 317/318 via Rifugio Casinei and the Sella del Fridolin to Rifugio Tuckett e Sella (2,272 m), about 2 hours. Many parties sleep here. From the hut path 303 crosses the Vallone di Tuckett over big boulders, with a short glacier remnant or equipped rocks on the left, to the wide saddle of the Bocca di Tuckett (2,648 m), about 1 hour; an ice axe or crampons can be useful early in the season. Turn right onto the Via delle Bocchette Alte (Sentiero Pedrotti, plaque) up rocky steps to the broad north shoulder of Cima Brenta, then cross to the Molveno side onto the almost level, fully cabled Cengia Garbari. Where the ledge narrows markedly at a small terrace (about 3,000 m, 1 hour from the Bocca), just before the second bronze Cengia Garbari plaque, cairns lead up the rock band on the right: a few moves of grade II, then loose scree and broken rock to the notch at the head of the gully (30 minutes). Pass the notch and descend a very loose little gully to a lower notch; the last metres before it are the hardest. Then climb to the summit, about 1 hour in all from the Cengia Garbari. Descend the same way with great care: the ground is extremely loose and stones are easily knocked onto the ledge and parties below. A popular loop continues south along the Bocchette Alte past the Spalla Sud to the Bocchetta Alta dei Massodi and down past the Vedretta degli Sfulmini to Rifugio Alimonta and Rifugio Brentei, then to Vallesinella (SAT: about 10 hours for the whole day). Glacier shrinkage at the top of the north couloir has made the rock on the eastern approach harder in recent years.

Start

Vallesinella1,534 m

  • Buses reach Madonna di Campiglio; in summer the Vallesinella road has timed access and a shuttle bus runs to the car park.
  • Parking at the trailhead

Stages

DayStagekmm ascentm descentTime
1Vallesinella → Rifugio Tuckett e Sella4.7740113h 05m
2Rifugio Tuckett e Sella → Cima Brenta3.0925363h 32m

Waypoints

  1. Parking:
    Vallesinella1,534 m
  2. Hut:
    Rifugio Casinei1,833 m
  3. Hut:
    Rifugio Tuckett e Sella2,264 m
  4. Col:
    Bocca di Tuckett2,646 m
  5. Summit:
    Cima Brenta3,151 m

Key Passages

  • Vallone di Tuckett and Bocca di Tuckett
  • Via delle Bocchette Alte (Sentiero Pedrotti)
  • Cabled Cengia Garbari ledge
  • Grade II rock band and loose gullies to the summit notch

Equipment

0/7 packed
Technical
Safety
Footwear
Clothing
Hut & Camping

Downloads

Route confidence 70%
Download GPXDownload KML

Overview

The highest summit of the Brenta Dolomites (3,151 m) above Madonna di Campiglio and Molveno, with a 700 m east wall. Its normal route leaves the cabled Via delle Bocchette Alte at the Cengia Garbari for a short but very loose grade II scramble to the top.

Cima Brenta rises at the northern end of the central Brenta group in western Trentino, between the Val Brenta and Vallesinella on the Campiglio side and the Molveno side to the east, inside the Adamello Brenta Nature Park and the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage area. It is the culminating point of the Brenta Dolomites and an ultra, with about 1,500 m of prominence over the Adige and Sarca basins. To the east it drops in a wall of about 700 m, partly orange; to the north-west the Vedretta di Brenta Superiore and Inferiore, two small and steadily shrinking glaciers, lie below a steep couloir.

Most visitors meet the mountain on the Via delle Bocchette Alte, the high via ferrata whose Cengia Garbari ledge crosses its east face at about 3,000 m; the summit is a short detour that most ferrata parties skip. The detour is only grade II but on extremely loose rock, and it is where most of the objective danger lies. A southern normal route from Rifugio Brentei on mostly sound rock is longer but has been described as more practicable since glacier retreat made the northern approach harder.

The huts are the attraction as much as the summit: Rifugio Tuckett e Sella under the Castelletto walls, Brentei in the Val Brenta Alta and Alimonta on the slabs below the Bocchette are classic bases for the whole Brenta circuit.

Climbing Notes

You need via ferrata experience, a head for heights, sure footing on loose rock and the ability to move on grade II terrain; a rope and basic belaying skills are advisable for the gullies above the Cengia Garbari. About 1,640 m of ascent and 5 hours up from Vallesinella by the north route; most parties sleep at Rifugio Tuckett and do the summit on the second day, or make the long loop via the Bocchette Alte to Alimonta and Brentei. Without that experience, hire a mountain guide.

The season is mid-July to September, when the huts are open (Tuckett about 20 June to 20 September). Early in the season snow lingers at the Bocca di Tuckett and in the gullies, so crampons and an ice axe help. Thunderstorms are common on summer afternoons and the cables attract lightning; start early. Take great care not to knock stones onto the busy ferrata below.

History

Douglas Freshfield and Francis Fox Tuckett with the Chamonix guide Henri Devouassoud made the first ascent in August 1871, from the west mostly over glacier snow. The south route followed in 1882 (De Falkner and Compton). Carlo Garbari's party found the route over the northern edge and the east ledge in 1892–1894, which, with Hanns Barth's 1902 variant, became the normal route. In 1889 the Austro-Hungarian authorities renamed the peak Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Spitze, a name that never caught on. Harder lines followed on the east face (Agostini–Moser, IV, 1930; Via Diretta, V, 1936) and the orange wall (Via Verona, VI A3, 1964, freed in 2002). A cable car from Molveno was proposed around 1953 and dropped; the area became part of the Adamello Brenta park in 1967.

Season

Best Jul–Aug
  1. January: Not advisable
  2. February: Not advisable
  3. March: Not advisable
  4. April: Not advisable
  5. May: Not advisable
  6. June: Possible
  7. July: Best (best window)
  8. August: Best (best window)
  9. September: Good
  10. October: Not advisable
  11. November: Not advisable
  12. December: Not advisable
Jan
Winter; huts closed except winter rooms
Feb
Winter; ski-mountaineering on the north couloir for experts
Mar
Ski-mountaineering only
Apr
Ski-mountaineering only
May
Snow; huts closed
Jun
Huts open around 20 June; snow on ledges and gullies
Jul
Season from mid-July; afternoon thunderstorms
Aug
Main season; busy on the Bocchette
Sep
Huts close around 20 September
Oct
Huts closed; early snow and ice
Nov
Winter
Dec
Winter

Access & Permits

Hut Booking
Rifugio Tuckett e Sella (SAT, 112 beds, about 20 June–20 September): hut +39 0465 441226, manager +39 0465 507287 or +39 335 5253090; online booking via the CAI Prenota Rifugi platform. Book Brentei and Alimonta directly with the huts.
Fees
  • Paid parking at Vallesinella in summer; the access road has timed restrictions
  • Hut overnight fees, with reductions for CAI/SAT and reciprocal alpine club members
Rules
  • Adamello Brenta Nature Park rules apply: stay on paths, no camping outside designated areas
Getting There

Madonna di Campiglio

Verona (VRN); Bergamo (BGY) and Innsbruck (INN) are alternatives

  • Car to Madonna di Campiglio, then 5 km to the Vallesinella car park (timed road access in summer, shuttle bus)
  • Alternative approach to Rifugio Tuckett: Grostè gondola from Campo Carlo Magno, then path 316 (about 1h20)

Hazards

  • Rockfall
  • Exposure
  • Weather
  • Glacier

Huts & Shelters

3
Researched from 7 sourcesConfidence73%UnreviewedUpdated 8 Oct 2026
Sources & Caveats
  • Natural Earth 10m point-in-polygon + 300 m border buffer; Wikidata P17 countries whose border is within 5 km
  • Summit height is 3,151 m (skeleton, Wikidata, OSM) or 3,150 m (IGM via Wikipedia, VieNormali).; Skeleton prominence (1,501 m) is from Wikidata; the Kirmse GLO-30 analysis gives about 640 m because the DEM swaps Cima Tosa and Cima Brenta. Cima Brenta is generally given as the Brenta high point.; English Wikipedia says the eastern of two summits about 250 m apart is higher, while VieNormali gives the separate Cima Brenta Est (Cima Vallesinella) as 3,114 m; the route descriptions here end at the 3,151 m OSM summit.; The via ferrata grade of the Bocchette Alte was not found in the sources read and
  • normalizeGrade of the easiest researched route
  • OSM agrees
  • coordinates: 2 osm-waypoint, 1 osm
  • Kirmse analysis gives 642 m (disagrees; GLO-30 swaps the order of Cima Tosa and this summit) (raw GLO-30 621 m)
  • P4552 chain
  • 96% OSM trail graph, 0% short gaps between OSM fragments, 4% DEM least-cost, 0% straight (approx)
  • elevation from copernicus_glo30
  • 97% OSM trail graph, 0% short gaps between OSM fragments, 3% DEM least-cost, 0% straight (approx)