Hiking the summits of the Schneeberg (2076 m), the most easterly mountain of the Alps of more than 2000 metres altitude.
Hiking in lederhose shorts the summits of the Schneeberg (2076 m), the most easterly mountain of the Alps of more than 2000 metres altitude. Schneeberg commands the Wienerwald in the same way as Mt. Ventoux (1912 m.) can be seen from much of Provence. We took the forty minute rack railway ride to 1800 m., jammed in as on the London tube but the views are so much better!
There’s a faded-glory hotel with a terrace next to the upper terminus station with much musical memorabilia, including a postcard sent in 1907 by the composer Gustav Mahler; we hiked on to the Damböckhaus (1810 m.) to enjoy some apfelsaft amidst vegation reaming from the grouse moors established here.
Then a Sound of Music moment, the joy of being out in sunshine on the high mountain - Julie Andrews did it so much more elegantly, before the push to the summit.
Fine views along the limestone Alps to the west, peaks too numerous to mention but all of lower altitude than the Schneeberg and all now looking dry and rocky without the white of snow or glaciers. There’s a ridge walk to the other peak, Kaiserstein at 2061 m., named after Kaiser Franz I who made it up here in 1805 and 1807, before the railway was built. The drop is precipitous and dramatic on this side of the ridge with the view down to the city of Vienna, the Czech Republic and Slovakia and Hungary.
We left the peaks to the mountain crows and descended slightly; the Fischerhütte near the commemorative stone served a very pleasant Apfelstrudel and Topfenstrudel which we enjoyed on the terrace with views over the Wienerwald, Hohe Wand (1132 m.) and over towards Vienna and the river Danube.
Nobody wants to leave a mountain on a day like this...
Descending at the end of the afternoon, we passed the sad remains of the Schneeberg Glacier, now just a bowl of rocks with a tiny amount of snow remaining. We found some wild Edelweiss flowers lower down on our return, another Sound of Music moment at the end of a very enjoyable excursion.
Thanks to Wolf.