After letting go of the rope tow, Katie Rubino of Eliot snowboards away from it at the top of Powderhouse Hill in South Berwick on Feb. 12. Rubino said the rope tow is part of the charm of the ski hill and that she was drawn to the hill by its proximity and low ticket price. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald

SOUTH BERWICK — Riding to the top of Powderhouse Hill, Len Bogh estimated that there was nearly a foot of all-natural snowpack beneath him.

“And more snow coming this weekend,” he said Wednesday night. “It’s a great season, that’s for sure. The snow is fantastic.”

In an era of seasonlong skiing and artificial snow, Powderhouse is among an increasingly rare group of ski hills that rely entirely on the natural stuff. Last year, that meant the hill was open for only one day in April.

But this year, with a more traditional Maine winter in swing, the hill has been open 17 times since its opening day Jan. 22 — welcoming more than 1,300 ticketed guests.

“It’s been a packed house here lately,” said Bogh, who was working as operations crew chief that night.

On Wednesday night, roughly 80 visitors took to the community-run ski slope, which sits on a parcel of city-owned land and is staffed by dozens of local volunteers. Bogh said that was a pretty good crowd for a weekday.

The crowd was a mixture of South Berwick residents, folks from a few nearby towns and a handful of skiers who came from as far as Massachusetts. While many said they were drawn to Powderhouse by its proximity to downtown or its cheap lift tickets — $5 for a night — repeat visitors cited the hill’s volunteer crew and sense of neighborhood community as reasons to return.

“It’s very accessible,” said Christina Cota, of Eliot, adding that Wednesday was her third visit this season. “We go to Sunday River a lot on the weekends, and it’s nice to just be able to drive 10 minutes over here and not two and a half hours.”

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, resident Christian Paulsen, 50, said he, his wife and two kids ski the White Mountains nearly every winter weekend, but they never had a chance to visit Powderhouse before Wednesday.

Skiers and snowboarders are pulled up Powderhouse Hill in South Berwick by a rope tow. Last year, the ski hill was open only one day due to the lack of snow, but with southern Maine experiencing more traditional snowfalls this winter, the small, community-run ski hill has sold more than 1,300 tickets over the 17 times it has been open. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald

“It’s rare that this place gets enough snow,” Paulsen said, looking down over the hill before his first trip down the slope in about 15 years.

“The hill looks a little bit bigger than I remembered, surprisingly,” he said with a laugh and a wide smile. “I’m excited.”

A few minutes later, he was back at the top. Paulsen called the hill “excellent, excellent.”

“Even better than I remember,” he said.

NEARLY A CENTURY OF SKIING

In operation since 1939, minus a few years’ hiatus decades ago, the volunteer-run hill has been a staple of South Berwick winters for generations.

Skiers and snowboarders hold on to the rope tow while being pulled up Powderhouse Hill in South Berwick on Feb. 9. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald

With a peak roughly 120 feet above its base, the slope boasts three routes that generally take less than a minute to complete. At the heart of the operation is a decades-old tow rope, carried by a series of repurposed car and truck wheels and the axle of a 1930s Ford pickup truck that hasn’t seen a road in years.

Before the crowds poured in Wednesday, Bogh stood in the back of the truck around 6:40 p.m., explaining that the motor was already running, but it needed to be shifted into gear to engage the tow rope.

“You let it get up to speed and then —” he said, pulling the gearshift as he spoke. The machine roared and rumbled as it shifted into place, tugging a rope around a series of car rims. “It’s very loud!”

Within minutes of the hill opening, a steady stream of skiers and snowboarders glided up the mountain. The motor’s hum mixed with a medley of classic rock and synth-pop that rang over the sound system.

The tow rope is a key part of Powderhouse’s charm, said Katie Rubino, who visited Powderhouse for the second time Wednesday after making an inaugural visit the week before.

Growing up, the 28-year-old used to snowboard at Pleasant Mountain in Bridgton, but fell out of the habit.

“I hadn’t been snowboarding in years, and we came, and I was like, ‘Wow, I actually love this. I don’t know why I haven’t been doing it!’ So I just figured I’d come back,” she said from the top of the slope. “The rope tow’s fun. And it’s a decent-sized hill.”

The heart of the rope tow at Powderhouse Hill is a 1930s Ford motor, which originally powered the tow rope while still in the engine compartment of the truck, at right. Now, the motor is mounted inside the shack, where it powers an axle and cycles the rope through numerous old tire rims. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald

Rubino was drawn to Powderhouse because of its price and proximity to her home in Eliot, which makes it a great way to relax after work. On Wednesday, she was home for only about 10 minutes before hitting the slope.

“I got home, I brought my stuff inside, and then I came straight here,” she said.

REPEAT RIDERS

Joshua Hoffman, 12, was the first one down the slope Wednesday night, followed closely by his brothers, 10-year-old Jonathan and 9-year-old Sam. (Technically, the youngest boy was the first one off the tow rope, but he only rode it about halfway up the hill on his first run).

Sitting in the warming house about an hour later, Joshua Hoffman said he was glad to shoot down the hill before it got too carved up.

A young snowboarder holds on to the tow rope while being pulled up Powderhouse Hill in South Berwick on Feb. 9. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald

Their father, Somersworth resident Dave Hoffman, 40, said the family had visited five or six times this year.

“It’s probably one of my favorite (hills),” Joshua said, waiting for his cup of hot chocolate to cool.

Sufficiently warmed by the wood-burning stove, the boys stepped outside and glided back to the tow rope before shooting up the hill again.

A few feet from the line for the lift, South Berwick resident Kelly Dube stood at the hill’s base with a friend from Eliot, waiting for the rest of their party to join them at the bottom. The group decided on a night of skiing just a few hours earlier — less time than it might take to drive to a larger mountain.

“It is awesome that this is like right in our backyard,” Dube, 24, said. “And it’s very cheap, and it’s very fun.”