Northstar's typical season is late November to early May. Its a great family ski resort with a large comfortable lodge at the top of the first lift (Big Springs) and lots of facilities in the village base.
You face southwest in this artist's image. Lake Tahoe is to the south and appears in the upper left.
The mountain is forested from top to bottom. The front side, stretching from the Northstar Village base at the lower left to the top of Mt. Pluto in the upper center, is mostly beginner and intermediate territory. There is limited front-side expert terrain at the very top and along the ridge - note the black diamonds in the image. However, the back side (to the right of Mt. Pluto in the image below) has a series of parallel runs with great moguls and 2000 vertical feet of fall-line skiing. While the front is groomed regularly, the groomers roll the backside runs in rotation so you can pick the size and type of bumps you like! As a bonus, the back side's high-volume lift never gets crowded!
Northstar has added new trails and a detachable lift on Lookout Mountain at the center of this map. Intermediate skiers can handle these runs when they're groomed. In our experience, Lookout has zero lift lines even on crowded days.
For Northstar's map location, click on the Ski Map link below.
Our TAHOE INFORMATION page.