Sisters businesses brave the storms, try to stay open

On Wednesday morning, downtown Sisters was a flurry of activity, despite the snowstorms that have made for challenging travel across the region and state.

People walked the snow-covered sidewalks through town, many cars made their way through town and gas stations were hopping.

NewsChannel 21 stopped by Hop and Brew to see how business has been since the snowstorms began.

Manager Lillian Lea said they were very busy Sunday night, when Santiam Pass closed due to the avalanche. She said people had to turn around and come back down the mountain to wait for the road to open.

She said they’ve also had lots of business from people coming back down the mountain from skiing and snowboarding at Hoodoo, but the weather has caused some delays for them.

“Our normal delivery day is Mondays. They weren’t able to make it this Monday because the delivery trucks were having starting up and getting over here,” Lea said. “So we had our delivery on Tuesday morning instead of Monday.”

Lea said unlike their food delivery, the keg delivery arrived Tuesday as usual.

Brian Banks, a lead at Sisters Pumphouse, said they have been able to keep open during normal business hours since the first wave of the storm came in Sunday night.

He said there has been an increase in gas can fill-ups, as well as some snowmobiles coming in for a fill, and although customer activity has been steady, deliveries have not.

“We’re still waiting on our grocery order for this week. It generally comes Tuesday, and I don’t think it’s coming today either,” Banks said. “But our beverages seem to be making it. They’re based out of Bend, though — not over the mountains, so that’s a little easier to get stuff here.”

NewChannel 21 also stopped by Sno Cap Drive In on Wednesday, just after lunch time.

Night manager Chase Clendenny said when Santiam Pass was closed Sunday, because of the avalanche, they were not able to get their food order.

It was not until one lane finally opened up before they could place their order and get it delivered.

“I don’t think we even opened on Sunday, we were closed that entire day because of the snow we had to get rid of it all,” Clendenny said. “And then on Monday, we opened up, but we were delayed about an hour and a half because it just kept falling, all the snow. As soon as we got that moved, we opened up and actually got a decent amount of business.”

Clendenny said since they opened on Monday, they’ve been busier than last month, before the snow came. It’s been mostly foot traffic, with call-in orders and people on cross-country skis.

The most popular item ordered? The bacon cheeseburger.