Schneeberg (Alps)
The Schneeberg, with its high summit Klosterwappen, is the highest mountain of Lower Austria, and the easternmost mountain in the Alps to exceed 2000 m. It is a distinctive limestone massif with steep slopes on three sides.
The Schneeberg is one of the Northern Calcareous Alps in the borderland between Lower Austria and Styria, in the eastern part of Austria. It and the Rax, some to the south-west, are collectively considered the Viennese Hausberge. The rich Karst plateaux have provided drinking water for Vienna, 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, from Bratislava in Slovakia and even from Babí Lom above Brno 180 km away.
A rack-and-pinion railway, the Schneeberg Railway, 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 to the east, or from the south, in Höllental.
The summit plateau has a number of mountain huts which are visited by thousands of walkers, climbers and even mountain-bikers each year.
