If you want (or need) foreign visa workers you need organized housing and transportation for them. Dormitory style housing ? Transportation shuttles? Whiteface, because of Lake Placid, has an abundance of workers. I was at Whiteface on Friday, I swear a third of the worker all came from the same foreign village. BTW They were smiling, willing workers. I am sure housing and transportation were arranged long before they arrived. From my Cape Cod experience I know it is not unusual for the foreign visa workers to work two jobs... day job, night job. Gore simply can not presently attract those workers. Even a 25% jump in wages, or a bonus to sign up will not solve the problem.
My solution to snow making? Do a honest evaluation of where snowmaking is most beneficial and efficient. It could very well mean scaling back expectations. Smaller mountains rock snowmaking because they have less terrain to manage. But that same drawback of less terrain means those trails are high quality. At this point I wonder if a 12 or even 18 inch dump of snow could meet the expectations of some? In the meantime I will alternate Gore and Whiteface, and throw in an occasional morning or night trip to West.
