Campanile Basso, Dolomites

Campanile Basso is a mountain in the Brenta group, a subgroup of the Rhaetian Alps in the Italian Region of Trentino-Alto Adige, with a height of. It is of a slender, almost fully vertical shape on all sides, rising 300 metres straight up. The mountain is named for its similarity in shape to a belltower and it being low compared to the neighboring Campanile Alto and Brenta Alta. The German alpinist Karl Schulz introduced in 1884 the name Guglia di Brenta, a name widely used until World War I and especially enduring in German literature, but considered inappropriate by locals and Italian climbers. Geologically, Campanile Basso is entirely formed of Triassic sedimentary rock, dense and compact dolomite. Due to its inaccessible appearance it was long left untouched during the alpine exploration of the Eastern Alps. Around the turn of the century a competitive race for the first ascent started, which took inspiration from the emerging nationalistic feelings in the region, as much as from the ascent of rock climbing as a sport. Most of the illustrious forebears of modern rock climbing climbed this mountain during the first half of the Twentieth century. ()