Callahan's finding light winter a benefit to business

Ashland, Ore.– While it may be snowing in the mountains, Mt. Ashland will continue to stay closed until further notice. For one local business, having the mountain open during the winter creates a bit of a traffic boost but things seem to be moving steady regardless of the mountain being open.

At Callahan’s Lodge and Restaurant, just off of I-5 near the Siskiyou Summit, many people are enjoying the rustic setting to fulfill some winter cravings. One item workers see an increase of – hot chocolate and marshmallows.

“On the weekends we get a lot of families coming up to play in the snow,” said Manager Tim Self. “We get a big rush of hot chocolates. Hot chocolates and a lot of marshmallows.”

This year though, a mild winter has brought far less snow than normal. While that’s been hurting Mt. Ashland, Self says they’re doing fine.

“We’ve had a really nice winter because when it snows the people who like the snow come up and when it doesn’t the people who wouldn’t come up because of the snow would come up,” he said. “So we’ve had a nice mix of both people this year.”

Self says they’ve had a lot of what he calls “12-hour winters,” where light snowfall provides visitors with a picturesque winter landscape one day and a sunny spring day the next.

But while the lodge may be having a good winter, for Mt. Ashland’s sake, he hopes the weekend snow will stick around.

“We like it when it snows. We like it when it doesn’t,” said Self. “But we wish it would snow for Mt. Ashland. They are our neighbors and we wish they would have a good opening season.”