The Unterberg is a prominent summit, high, in the

Gutenstein Alps The Gutenstein Alps (german: Gutensteiner Alpen) are a mountain range in the Eastern Alps in Central Europe, and the northeasternmost part of the Northern Limestone Alps, reaching heights over 1,000 m. Topography Die Gutenstein Alps are ...

in southern

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 ...

. It is located about 10 km south of

Hainfeld Hainfeld is a municipality in the district of Lilienfeld in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. Geography Hainfeld is situated on the Gölsen River in the Southeast Lower Austria. It's the biggest city in Gölsen Valley (''Gölsental''). The ...

and is the westernmost and highest summit of a loose chain of mountains that include the Hocheck (1,037 m) and the Kieneck (1,106 m). Its crest continues towards the southwest, albeit less high, to the Brunntaler Höhe (1,090 m) and the Leitermauern (1,025 m). In a field on the summit there is a chapel with the name of ''Maria Einsiedl''. The mountain is made of

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 w ...

rock and has a steep, wooded face to the northwest which is pierced by crags, whilst to the southeast it falls away only half as sharply. About 150 metres in height below the summit is the mountain hut of ''Unterberghaus''. It is a local

winter sports Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold a ...

centre with several ski pistes and is popular in spring for

ski mountaineering Ski mountaineering (abbreviated to skimo) is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. There are two major categories of equipmen ...

. The ski lift runs up the southeastern flank to the top and may be reached from

Pernitz Pernitz is a town in the district of Wiener Neustadt-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. History The origin of the name ''Pernitz'' is the Slavic word ''perenica'', which refers to a stream on which charcoal is used. The Slavic settleme ...

in the Piesting valley via Muggendorf. The

Myrabach The Myra Falls (german: Myrafälle or rarer: ''Mirafälle''; always pronounced with a German "i") are located in a ravine in the municipality of Muggendorf in the Austrian federal state of Lower Austria (N.B. not to be confused with the Mira Falls ...

stream rises on the eastern side of the Unterberg from the ''Myralucke'' and, after a few kilometres, falls over the picturesque Myra Falls into the valley of the River Piesting.
About 8 km south of the Unterberg lies the saddle known as Rohrer Sattel (864 m), an important road link from the

Piesting The Piesting is a river in southern Lower Austria. A left tributary of the Fischa, its drainage basin is . The sources of the Piesting are the Kalte Gang, the , and the Längapiesting, which begin south of the Schneeberg. These rivers meet in G ...

valley and

Vienna Basin The Vienna Basin (german: Wiener Becken, cz, Vídeňská pánev, sk, Viedenská kotlina, Hungarian: ''Bécsi-medence'') is a geologically young tectonic burial basin and sedimentary basin in the seam area between the Alps, the Carpathians and t ...

to the Schneeberg region and the Traisen valley. Muggendorf - Unterberg-Schutzhaus (2).JPG, Mountain hut on the Unterberg Rohr im Gebirge - Kapelle „Maria Einsiedl“.JPG, Chapel „Maria Einsiedl“ on the Unterberg Unterberg vom Gaisruck.jpg, Coniferous forest on the Almeskogel. Right rear: the Unterberg (with ski slopes). Left: the

Rax-Schneeberg Group The Rax-Schneeberg Group (german: Rax-Schneeberg-Gruppe) is a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps on the Styrian-Lower Austrian border in Austria. Location According to the official classification of the Eastern Alps by the Alpine Clu ...

External links

Unterberg Weather Service
Gutenstein Alps Mountains of Lower Austria Mountains of the Alps Ski areas and resorts in Austria One-thousanders of Austria {{Austria-sports-venue-stub