by the Adige valley. The Brenta Group covers a relatively large area. It can be subdivided into a Southern Sector, comprising the Tosa massif, the Ambiez chain and the subgroups of Vallon, Fracingli, Ghez; Central Sector, comprising the Sfulmini chain and the Cima Brenta massif as well as the subgroups of Monte Daino, Gaiarda/Altissimo and Grostè. Northern Sector comprising the Northern chain and the subgroup of La Campa. Technically, the shouldering mountains, as there are on the east side Cima Paganella, Monte Gazza, and on the west side the Doss del Sabion should be considered part of the Brenta Group, but they are very peripheral. The Brenta Group counts a number of lakes of which the Molveno Lake and the Tovèl Lake are the most significant. Peaks Notable peaks of the Brenta Group are: Recent research has suggested that Cima Tosa is not as high as 3173 metres and is probably lower than Cima Brenta. Mountain passes The main mountain passes of the Brenta Group are: Exploration history The Brenta Group had probably been frequently explored by local hunters, but the scientific and alpinistic exploration started in 1864 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. 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. Ball wrote about his endeavors in the Alpine Journal and attracted other British explorers to the Brenta Group. Douglas Freshfield, a later chairman of the prestigious Alpine Club arrived in 1871. He and his companions Francis Fox Tuckett and the French guide François Devouassoud from Chamonix. 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. In 1871 they reached the summit of the Cima Brenta. 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 and Edward Theodore Compton (1881: Crozzon di Brenta). 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