Ok, first, in the interests of full disclosure, generally speaking, I have a negative opinion of labor unions, so I'm not trying to "stand up" for them. Also, I agree, this forum is not the place to discuss the pros and cons of them.
As far as your comments about the Wilmington Trail, I suspect the decision to open that trail had a LOT more to do with marketing and advertising, than with keeping workers busy. For advertising purposes, and to attract visitors, it's all about the number of trails and lifts open. By adding the Wilmington Trail, the conditions report adds another trail, another lift, and another "mountain". The Wilmington Trail is also a popular trail with many Whiteface skiers.
If you don't believe that trail count is considered to be a very important marketing tool, just compare a 1987 Whiteface trail map to the current one. With the exception of the Lookout Mountain addition, the physical layout of trails is very much the same, perhaps one or two little additions here and there, yet the NUMBER of trails listed on the current map is double the 1987 number. It's just better marketing to advertise 86 trails rather than 40.
Next, I've been told, and I certainly don't know whether this is true or not, that Whiteface is not allowed to draw water from the Ausable River after February 28 (29th in a leap year?). If this is true, then the amount of time "lost" from President's Day (week) until the end of February is fairly negligible in the grand scheme. In addition, anyone who skis at Whiteface on a regular basis, knows that after President's week, the crowds diminish significantly, and the vast majority of skiers after that point are season pass holders. You need only walk through Lake Placid on any weekend evening after President's week to see additional evidence of the reduction of visitors. From a budgeting point of view, it makes the most sense to spend your money at "peak" times, trying to cater to the greatest number of customers.
While you could make the point that season pass holders are "getting the shaft" because of this, I think you have to keep in mind that ORDA's goal is to generate economic activity within the "Olympic" region. A family of four visiting for a weekend, spending two nights in a hotel, eating five to seven meals at restaurants, purchasing day use lift tickets and ski rentals, buying souvenirs and equipment probably generates a lot more economic activity for the region than one area resident buying a season pass and brown-bagging their lunch when they go to the mountain. ORDA is trying to attract visitors ... I think it's that simple. Whether you agree or disagree with the decisions management makes in trying to do that is another story. Personally, I think Bruce has been doing a good job since he took over. Overall, I think things have been much better at Whiteface than they were a few years ago, and that's with a reduced budget from Albany. That's not to say that I agree with, or like, everything they do, but I think they're doing a pretty good job overall.
To place the "blame" for poor conditions, questionable lift operations, etc., squarely on the labor union is ... once again, conveniently simplistic.
In reality, there IS a simple reason for this season's problems: The Weather. If it had been 25 degrees with snow instead of rain all through December and January, we wouldn't even be having this discussion.
It's easy to be against something ... It's hard to be for something!
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