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Heavy Snow Means Big Business In Truckee

SIERRA (CBS13) — When winter hits In the Sierra it's time for businesses to cash in on activities such as skiing and snowboarding, but getting there can be tough. Interstate 80 was closed down for a bit Thursday morning near the Nevada state line.

When that happens local businesses benefit. The Wagon Train Cafe has been around since 1947 serving a little taste of Truckee. The owner, Siobhan Smart, says she's never seen snow like this and she's lived there 25 years.

"For the first time I actually had to walk to work and we have a loader," Smart said.

There is so much snow in the Sierra they are running out of places to put it. Two feet of snow in two days shut down I-80 in both directions several weeks ago, and trapped tourists made the trek to Truckee.

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"People get flummoxed or panic when they are trapped. But I tell them, 'It will open again. You will survive this. It's beautiful, look outside, I will feed you bacon and you can survive this, it's delicious,'" Smart said.

Amir Salehi and his family live in the Bay Area but like to come to the snow. They were stuck in their car once for seven hours when the roads closed. This trip they were much luckier.

"I know yesterday it was closed and there were incidents last weekend," Salehi said. "Just glad we got here in one piece."

Millions just like them come to the area each season to enjoy the snow, making life in a small town a big hassle.

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Local Jen Carlile said, "At the local grocery store it's not uncommon to have 30-minute lines on weekends with snowboarders here for the mountains, so we just do our shopping during the week. "

Locals adjusting their schedules for the snow season, just part of the deal if you live and work in ski country.

"We're usually open 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. but if it's snowing, when we are feeding first responders, we are here when they are here," said Smart.

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