I find it odd that this not so little factor was not mentioned before, or at the
least it certainly didn't get a lot of publicity.

I am referring to the fact that the LHC has to shut down for the winter.

Now is this a European let's take 3 months off for a holiday kind of thing,
or due to where the machine is located, or both?

Does Fermilab, which is located in a northern climate, also have to shut
down for the winter?

Is the fact that several villages are located over the LHC have anything to
do with this? The facility is several hundred feet underground, or do winters
in Geneva get that bad?

With thousands of people working on the system and many more waiting
for results for both professional and personal purposes, to say nothing of
the time and money already spend on this device, I would presume that
the winter situation would have been planned for and avoided. A few
weeks off is one thing, but when you have all the above happening, this
is a terrible waste of time and resources.

http://www.interactions.org/cms/?pid=1026941