Schneeberg (Alps)

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Schneeberg
At the left the Klosterwappen (summit), at the right the Fischerhaus (mountain lodge), in the foreground the Ochsenboden.
Elevation	2,076 metres (6,811 feet)
Location	Lower Austria, Austria
Range	Northern Limestone Alps
Prominence	1348 m
Coordinates	47°46′3″N, 15°48′28″E
First ascent	Charles de l'Écluse
Translation	snow mountain (German)
Pronunciation	[ʃne:bɜɘg]

The Schneeberg, with its 2076 m-high summit Klosterwappen, is the highest mountain of Lower Austria, and the easternmost 2000 m-high mountain in the Alps. 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 (2007 m), some 13 km to the south-west, are collectively considered the Viennese Hausberge (local mountains). The rich Karst plateaux have provided drinking water for Vienna, via a 120 km-long pipeline, since 1873, claiming to be the best drinking water in the world.

On clear days, Schneeberg can be readily seen from parts of Vienna, some 65 km away (as the crow flies), together with its snow-fields that reach down its northern slopes even in summer and provide a challenge to skiers.

A rack-and-pinion railway, the Schneebergbahn, now over 100 years old, climbs to a height of 1800 m, 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 annually.

[edit] Gallery

Map of Austria, position of the location Schneeberg
Elisabeth church and Schneebergbahn station	Flowers	Path to the top	Path to the top
	On top of Schneeberg		Rocks on Schneeberg
Pinewood on lower Schneeberg