Stage 07: BergZeitReise - from the Schneealm to the Rax

First we hike on the wide alpine road over the high plateau of the Schneealm to the Lurgbauernhütte. Here we should plan a short rest, because at the hut there is an organic alpine cheese dairy with the possibility of tasting!

Immediately after the hut, however, we descend quite quickly along the Ameisbühel (Amaißbichl) in the direction of the Nasskamm, whereby we can avoid a very unpleasant stretch of trail by means of a variant via the Karlalm. On the Nasskamm itself, our path leads first flat and then increasingly steep, past the two unmanaged huts of the alpine society "Gamsecker", up to the uppermost Nasskamm (beautiful view of the Gamseck walls and the Altenberg valley).

Here we keep slightly to the right, looking in the direction of the Rax, and thus climb over a rocky path ("tame Gamseck"), which is secured at the end, and in part quite exposed, to the high plateau of the Raxalpe. Similar to Hochschwab, a marked summit trail takes us to the highest point of the Rax, the 2,007m high Heukuppe. A mighty summit sign dominates the broad summit plateau here. After a rest, we descend the remaining 200 meters of altitude in an easterly direction to reach the Ludwighaus and thus our overnight stop.

A special natural jewel is located at the western foothills of the Schneealpe. The Naßköhr , an approximately 250-hectare moorland area , was designated as a special protection area in 2004. In order to stabilize the water balance of the two internationally important mountain pine raised bogs Capellarowiese and Zerbenwiese, which had already shrunk and been partially damaged by overgrazing and peat extraction (peat cutting), dams were built as a result.

An example of the far-reaching use of the alpine pasture on the extensive plateau of the Schneealpe, whose overgrowth was prevented again and again with the help of Schwendarbeiten, is the Lurgbauernhütte on the Ameisbühel, built in 1864 as a simple alpine pasture. In 1934 it was reopened as an inn and managed with an attached alpine dairy with livestock. In 2012, it was finally converted into an organic alpine dairy.

Already at the end of the 19th century, local climbing greats such as Daniel Innthaler from Nasswald and, a little later, Konrad Kain, who even made first ascents in Corsica, Canada and North America, tried their hand on the walls of the Raxalpe! The Raxalpe became the playground of the Viennese mountaineering school, and the famous Paul Preuss was also active in the Raxenmäuern. The publication of the first "Benesch" Rax guidebook in 1894, in which the author attempted the first alpine-wide difficulty rating for mountain tours, was also important in terms of alpine history.

An avalanche accident on the Reißtalersteig, which is not far from the BergZeitReise, in 1896 also led to the founding of the Alpine Rescue Committee Vienna, the world's first mountain rescue service with local offices in Reichenau and Mürzzuschlag, among others.

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