The Schneeberg, with its 2,076-metre (6,811 ft) high summit Klosterwappen, is the highest mountain of Lower Austria, and the easternmost and northernmost mountain in the Alps to exceed 2000 m. It is a distinctive limestone massif with steep slopes on three sides.

It and the Rax (2,007 m or 6,585 ft), some 13 km (8.1 mi) to the south-west, are collectively considered the Viennese Hausberge (Vienna's "local mountains").

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 starting point of the Fadensteig is the Edelweißhütte on the Fadensattel at an altitude of 1,235 m.[2] The summit plateau has a number of mountain huts 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.