As the snow has started to disappear more and more a weird feeling has started to grip St Anton. It is as if the town has started to head for hibernation again, as the slopes have started to become visibly quieter and many places in town have started to begin the elongated process of closing down. Next week sees the last week of guests for many of the major tour companies, although whether there will be much snow for them to enjoy is a question that still remains hugely up in the air.

In all the ski and snowboard shops over town, the sales have started to hit with full force, and some of the stores such as the snowboard shop by the Nasserein lift have started to shut already due to both lack of stock and lack of customers. Now is the time for anybody wishing to purchase this season’s skis, boots, snowboards or salopettes at discounts of 50% and more. For those looking to pick up gear even cheaper, one avenue worth exploring is the purchase of ex-rental skis and snowboards from all the rental shops in town, as they tend to sell off stock at huge discounts (depending on use) towards the end of the season. However one thing worth bearing in mind is that if you are looking to pick up gloves, a helmet or goggles on the cheap this is unlikely to happen as these are the only items not to go on sale as design barely differs at all from season to season.

The bars and restaurants in town have also started to close down in force. Many have already started to, or are about to hold closing down parties in the next week. For example, the famous on piste Krazy Kanguruh bar is holding a closing down party (as the snow on piste starts to disappear) on Saturday, from 3pm to 2am and promises to be an occasion not to be missed. Other places such as Bar Cuba, and the Kandhar nightclub and restaurant are now open both reduced hours and a reduced number of nights a week. On top of this many of the restaurants in town have started to lay off staff and drastically reduced capacity to accompany the reduced number of people in town.

This Sunday also sees the end of the free ski bus service, which connects the entirety of St Anton. This is bound to have a huge impact, especially on people staying on the outskirts of a town the size of St Anton and wishing to get to the main Galzig, Nasserein and Rendl lifts, as well as the town centre itself.

As the town starts to shut itself down, and rumours have started to circulate about the closing of many of the lifts due to the lack of snow, a different atmosphere has started to envelope the resort. From a bustling alpine town, St Anton has started to prepare itself for summer as a quiet town in the Austrian countryside, until the whole process starts again next November.