The Schneeberg, with its high summit ''Klosterwappen'', is the highest

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

, and the easternmost and northernmost mountain in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

to exceed 2000 m. It is a distinctive

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

massif with steep slopes on three sides. The Schneeberg is one of the

Northern Calcareous Alps The Northern Limestone Alps (german: Nördliche Kalkalpen), also called the Northern Calcareous Alps, are the ranges of the Eastern Alps north of the Central Eastern Alps located in Austria and the adjacent Bavarian lands of southeastern Germany ...

in the borderland between

and

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

, in the eastern part of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. It and the Rax (), some to the south-west, are collectively considered the

Viennese Hausberge Vienna's Hausberge (german: Wiener Hausberge) are the mountains of Raxalpe, Schneeberg and Hohe Wand in the south of the state of Lower Austria. These mountains may be reached from Vienna in about an hour and are therefore a popular recreation ...

(Vienna's "local mountains"). The rich

Karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

x have provided drinking water for

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, via a long pipeline, since 1873, and is claimed to be the best drinking water in the world. On clear days, Schneeberg can be readily seen from parts of Vienna, some away (as the crow flies), from Bratislava in Slovakia and even from Babí Lom above Brno 180 km away. The Schneeberg is a summit with a height of over 1500 m, which just misses the limit for an ultra-prominent peak (1500). A rack-and-pinion railway, the

Schneeberg Railway The Schneeberg Railway (german: Schneebergbahn) is a local railway line in Lower Austria running from Wiener Neustadt to the Hochschneeberg mountain. From Wiener Neustadt to Puchberg am Schneeberg it runs as a standard gauge, adhesion railw ...

, now over 100 years old, climbs to a height of , reducing the walk to the summit to an hour or two. There are also a number of other routes for walkers, including from the spa resort of

Puchberg am Schneeberg Puchberg am Schneeberg is a town in the south-eastern part of Lower Austria with approximately 2650 inhabitants. It is situated about 80 Kilometres from Vienna. The highest point of Puchberg is the Schneeberg with 2076 m, the highest mountain of ...

to the east, or from the south, in Höllental. On the north side of the Schneeberg there is the Fadensteig as an ascent path. For experienced hikers, the path over the Fadensteig is worthwhile. The starting point of the Fadensteig is the Edelweißhütte on the Fadensattel at an altitude of 1,235 m. The summit plateau has a number of

mountain hut A mountain hut is a building located high in the mountains, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineers, climbers and hikers. Mountain huts are usually operated by an Alpine Club or some organization d ...

s which are visited by thousands of walkers, climbers and even mountain-bikers each year. There are numerous ski runs, some of them very steep, the most famous of which leads over the Breite Ries.Thomas Rambauske "Skitour zur allerersten alpinen Steilabfahrt" (German: Ski tour to the very first steep alpine descent), Der Standard, 14.March 2014.
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References

External links

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Webcams: Schneeberg - Fischerhütte, Damböckhaus, Losenheim

Bergsteigen.at
with information about climbing routes and huts in the Schneeberg/Rax area Mountains of the Alps Mountains of Lower Austria Rax-Schneeberg Group Two-thousanders of Austria {{LowerAustria-geo-stub