Northstar Trial Map, click to expand

I visited Northstar on March 1, 2013.

Vertical	2,280 ft (690 m)
Top elevation	8,610 ft (2,620 m)
Base elevation	6,330 ft (1,930 m)
Skiable area	2,904 acres (11.75 km2)
Runs	100 : 13% beginner : 60% intermediate : 27% advanced
Longest run	1.4 mi (2.3 km)
Lift system	19 lifts

Snow coverage was okay considering the drought.

View of Lake Tahoe from top of Northstar

The entire mountain was open when I was there.  It is one of the many ski resorts that was open during the heyday of skiing in the 60s to 80s.  Northstar was open in 1972.

I drove up I 80 and stayed in Truckee as I was planning on hitting 3 ski resorts this trip. I got a close parking spot in the Northstar parking lot.

I spent a day and skied about 40 runs.   I got to experience most of the mountain.

One observation is that the runs are posted at higher skill levels then they are at other resorts.  Most of the black diamond runs would be posted blue box (Intermediate Level) at other places I’ve skied.

It’s a nice area for just causing the runs.  It’s well set up for groups staying in the resort’s condos.