It is in the possession of these numerous well-managed and excellently appointed hotels and inns that the Dolomite region excels; and they are of such variety as regards size and the kind and cost of accommodation which can be obtained at them, that almost all tastes and purses can be suited. This has been more especially the case during the last decade, in which new routes have been opened up, and further and adequate hotel accommodation provided. Huge buildings, affording every possible comfort and modern convenience, patronized by the wealthy visitor, hotels on a less grand scale, suited to the requirements of the well-to-do middle classes, and yet more modest, though not less well-managed and comfortable, establishments, where for an almost incredibly small sum pedestrians and tourists of more restricted means can obtain excellent food, are all to be found in the Dolomite region. In the larger hotels at the more noted resorts, of course, one finds much the same "life" as that prevailing at such places as Ischl, Semmering, Pontresina, St. Moritz, and Lucerne, where bands play during dinner, ladies wear elaborate Parisian toilettes, men dress for dinner, and climbing is, for most of the visitors, quite a secondary consideration to that of enjoying "smart" society. In the smaller places one finds greater simplicity and, to our thinking, greater charm, with more of the life of the people in evidence and less of the exotic.
But the Dolomites themselves present many attractions to the climber, and yet provide numerous ascents which can be undertaken by the comparatively untrained and inexperienced. This is largely owing to the fact that they consist chiefly of isolated groups of mountains of great height, but which, owing to their isolation, are not approached by long and toilsome journeys ere the actual climbing itself commences, such as is often the case with the greater peaks of the Central Alps. Numbers of the higher ones, reaching to upwards of 9000 feet in height, may be ascended without any great fatigue by well-made paths, thus providing for the tourists who are not expert climbers plenty of exercise with just those elements of adventure and inspiration which prove the greatest charms to all climbers, and the reward at the end which comes to those who penetrate the higher regions of a purer atmosphere, and a larger outlook upon the glorious beauties of mountainous districts.
There are, of course, many other Dolomite summits which can only be ascended, and should only be attempted, by practised and hardy climbers, for whom great heights and the risks attending their ascent possess no terrors. It is generally conceded that the district provides both for the inexperienced and most experienced climbers some of the most interesting mountain ascents in Europe. In the Dolomite region, especially of recent times, climbing has made extraordinary progress. Summits, the ascent of which a few years ago was looked upon as a great achievement by even good climbers, are now scaled by numbers of people every year; and each year brings additions to the conquered peaks, some of which were a decade ago looked upon as absolutely unclimbable, and likely to remain so.
The Dolomites are, indeed, gradually becoming as well known to climbers and would-be climbers of even the countries of Western Europe as are the Swiss Alps, and annually a larger number of lovers of Alpine scenery take their holidays in this region; and of late years the district has been visited by many even in winter time. In summer, although much accommodation has already been provided for tourists, it is, up to the present, decidedly insufficient for all the visitors who flock to this region during the months of July, August, and September. It is, therefore, advisable for any one who wishes for a comfortable time during those months to secure rooms in advance at all places which are to be visited, more especially at those centres of attraction to which the greater number of tourists are in the habit of gravitating.
DOLOMITE GROUPS
The Dolomites may be divided into the following groups, running from east to west.[20] (1) The Sextner Dolomites, the most important summits amongst which are the Drei Schuster Spitz, 10,375 feet, which is ascended generally from the Fischelein Boden; the Elferkofel, 10,220 feet; the Zwölferkofel, 10,150 feet; Oberbacher Spitz, 8700 feet, and the Drei Zinnen, 7897 feet, two absolutely bare peaks of sulphurous limestone, streaked with pale orange, rising grandly and boldly from behind the Monte Piana plateau like two huge scored and fissured fingers of a Titanic hand. (2) The Ampezzaner Dolomites, with Monte Cristallo, 10,495 feet, with its many peaks veiled by snows, glassing itself in the agate green waters of the lovely pine-environed Dürren See. Monte Antelao, 10,710 feet; the three Tofanas, ranging in height from 8565 feet to 10,635 feet; and the Sorapis, 10,520 feet. (3) The Agordinischen Dolomites, with the Nuvolau, 8685 feet; Monte Pelmo, 10,395 feet; and Monte Civetta, 10,565 feet, whose western face from Caprile was unascended till as recently as 1895, when Messrs. Raynor and Phillimore, with two Ampezzo guides, made the ascent. (4) The Grödener Dolomites, which embrace the beautiful Rosengarten, the Schlern, 8415 feet; the Sella-group, including the Sellajoch, 7275 feet; Rodella, 8155 feet, and other lesser peaks; and the Geislerspitzen, with its highest peak, Sas Rigais, 9930 feet. (5) The Fassaner Dolomites, consisting of the groups of the Latemar, 9166 feet; the Marmolada, the highest of all the Dolomites, a huge group with several peaks, including the Puntadi Penia, 11,020 feet; the Marmolada di Rocco, 10,820 feet, and other magnificent and lofty summits; and the Pala Group, including the Cimone Della Pala, 10,450 feet, the Pala Di San Martino, 9830 feet, and the Pala Della Madonna, 8336 feet.
There are numberless interesting and picturesque excursions to be made in this charming region of the Dolomites, but the space at our disposal will only permit of the mention of a few of the most accessible, interesting, or picturesque.
MISURINA LAKE