The Rax is a limestone plateau mountain on the border of Lower Austria and Styria, together with the Schneeberg the 'Viennese home mountains'. On its south side the Preinerwand rises above Prein an der Rax to about 1780 m, with slabby grey routes reached from the Griesleitenhof car park; on its north side the deep Höllental gorge, near the Weichtalhaus inn, is lined with lower walls such as the Wachthüttelkamm, Loswand and Klobenwand. Reichenau an der Rax is the base, reached by train to Payerbach-Reichenau and bus, or by car via the S6 to Gloggnitz. The Höllental crags are climbable from spring to autumn; bergsteigen.com gives April to October for the Preinerwand.
GuidebookKletterführer Höllenthal, Rax - Schneeberg, Thomas Behm (2024, Autoedition (Th. Behm)). Buy from kletterfuehrer.net. The route pages here are aggregated by AI from public sources; climb with the guidebook.
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Preinerwand above Prein an der Rax (the Wachthüttelwand is 6 km north in the Höllental) · 1,621 m
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr (usual season) | May (usual season) | Jun (usual season) | Jul (usual season) | Aug (usual season) | Sep (usual season) | Oct (usual season) | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean daily high °C | −3 | −2 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 12 | 7 | 2 | −3 |
| Mean daily low °C | −10 | −10 | −7 | −3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 4 | −0 | −4 | −9 |
| Rain days 1 mm or more | 11 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 12 |
● usual season. 1991-2020 averages at about 1621 m; rain is for a 10–25 km grid cell. Weather and climate data: Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0.
Austria · Rax
One of the best moderate routes on the Rax: three steeper pitches on rather loose rock, then three pitches of beautiful friction slab where you climb 'by laying on hands'. UIAA VI at most, V+ obligatory.
5c+VI/VI+5.9+5c+VI/VI+5.9+6 pitches195 m