Painter’s Pond is popular as a picnic spot, a place to watch waterfowl, and a fishing hole (each year Massanutten Resort stocks it with thousands of trout for the enjoyment of residents and guests alike). It’s a real asset for the community. And you may have noticed that, after a summer of being empty, Painter’s Pond is now nearly full.
So why was it emptied, and what’s that weird-looking new contraption on its banks? Start with what Painter’s Pond really is, and why it’s there. The Pond is an impoundment that holds back a portion of upper Stony Run. It serves as a reservoir with three primary purposes: as a water source for snowmaking and irrigating the Mountain Greens golf course, and for firefighting.
The soils in The Kettle bespeak the unique geological formation of Massanutten. There’s a lot of eroded sandstone in it and, over time, sand and silt washes down the mountainsides into streambeds. Given that Painter’s Pond serves as a catchment for much of the runoff at the south end of the Massanutten syncline, sand and silt transported by surface water gradually builds up in the pond.
So partly, the project was to remove some of the sand that’s collected in the past 20 years or so. More than 4,000 cubic yards – 750 big dump trucks full – of spoils were removed from the pond. Most of it was used to re-grade the area where the Mass Transit and Yee-Ha ski trails intersect. But there was another reason for the work: to install a state-of-the-art intake system for the pumphouse.
The old intake relied on fixed screens to keep debris and aquatic animals from entering the pump system. The new intake uses large perforated drums. The drums rotate, and a sturdy brush mechanism cleans the drums with each rotation. However, it’s anticipated that, over time, the mesh on the drums may clog with silt – so the entire mechanism can be hoisted out of the water along with a rail system. Once at the top of the rails, Massanutten staff members can further clean and maintain the equipment.
With these changes, it’s expected that Painter’s Pond will serve the community as an amenity and an important resource for many years to come.
Click here to see several YouTube videos of the apparatus in action.
Operations update: Massanutten Resort would like to remind residents and guests that capacity for skiing and snowboarding, snowsports school, snow tubing, the Water Park, food and beverage and other amenities will be limited this winter due to the pandemic.
Single-day ticket sales for snowsports and the Water Park will occur subject to available inventory; in order to ensure access, online purchase prior to arriving at the ski area is strongly encouraged. Property Owners and Resort guests will have priority in reserving day tickets, but reserving space ahead of time is strongly recommended.
Capacity limits are determined in coordination with orders from the State of Virginia and are subject to change. For the latest information on operations, please bookmark this page: www.massresort.com/recovery.
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