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Ski for $5 on Real Snow, Towed Uphill by a 1938 Ford Model A Motor

January 07, 2009 - SOUTH BERWICK — Tiny Powderhouse Hill is more of a powerhouse. It's old and small, but brimming with local flavor and communal energy.

Much of the unlikely ski hill's 70-year-old beginnings near downtown South Berwick can still be found in a 1938 Ford Model A that was once used to power the lift, the ancient drive wheel that still spins the rope and a rusted wood stove.

Carrying the title "the smallest ski resort in America," Powderhouse Hill started this winter powered by new lights, a fresh new rope, tons of natural snow and, mostly, the love of willing volunteers who keep the place buzzing.

"The motor that runs these pulleys is on the original truck frame. The whole pulley system is a piece of Yankee engineering," said volunteer Brian Liberty.

Owned by the town of South Berwick, the ski area charges just $5 and relies solely on natural snow and volunteers to open. When it is, the old engine at the top of the 150-foot hill can be heard; views of farm fields, silos and five towns can be seen; and these days the feel of real powder can be felt just 10 minutes from the Kittery bridge.

Certainly, the novelty in riding over what was once cow pasture is not the reason to visit Powderhouse Hill; it's the overall experience.

This place is a throwback, an oddity, and during a winter like this, a pure victory.

"Powderhouse Hill didn't have a lot of publicity. They just needed new, young families," said Greg Sweetser, executive director of SkiMaine. "It's fun to see the enthusiasm when they're there. It's five dollars cash. Everybody pays. It's so cool. There's just one rope tow."

So when there is soft powder out, Powderhouse Hill becomes awash with soft, slippery fun and rideable joy.

After the Dec. 22 snowfall that dumped nearly 2 feet on the area, the snow was light; the snow-built jumps sound; and local Powderhouse fans busy taking run after run – and, since there is but one tow rope, the same run after run.

Regardless, with sounds of Aerosmith pouring from the speakers, young riders jumped snow-made obstacles, and tiny children learned to ski.

For the older kids, the redundancy of the place never gets boring.

"It doesn't get old. I do new stuff. I do an 180-degree or I switch on a jump," said Kameron Koepke, a seventh-grader in Camden who was in South Berwick visiting friends.

Local rider Sophie White, 15, who has been snowboarding for six years, hits the bigger mountains in New England – but loves her neighborhood hill.

"It's just good practice. I can walk here," White said after hitting a 3-foot-high jump. "And I like the music they added this year."

Stephen Hoyt is learning to snowboard with his daughter at Powderhouse Hill, and he's proud of the hill, as well as his clan's allegiance to the local ski area.

Hoyt's nephews – ages 6 and 10 – have the unofficial record for most ski days.

"My nephew just got trick skis for Christmas. He's learning how to go off the jumps with them," Hoyt said.

Powderhouse Hill is not Maine's most unusual ski area – but it's up there.

Sweetser said it is one of just two ski areas in Maine that is, literally, a walk from downtown – Fort Kent's Lonesome Pine Trails being the other.

And, it's one of two that sits along the coast – Camden Snowbowl with its views of the Atlantic Ocean being the other.

What makes Powderhouse Hill different is the cost.

"You can't get a lunch today for five bucks," said Jake Kareckas of South Berwick, a volunteer.

Actually, at Powderhouse Hill's snack bar, you can.

However, the low price and the sweet solidarity of the volunteers cannot make up for what Mother Nature does not always deliver.

And without a groomer, Powderhouse skiers are dependent even more upon the weather.

If the hill is too icy, it can't open. The volunteer members hope to raise money for a groomer this winter, allowing more skiing and riding.

"It will mean more days of skiing. Days we couldn't normally ski – we would be able to ski," said volunteer Bill Page.

By DEIRDRE FLEMING, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, January 1, 2009


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