Northstar

Located just north of Lake Tahoe, Northstar makes for a competitive package on paper. The resort offers fast lifts, more than 3,000 acres of terrain, and a family-friendly atmosphere. However, Northstar falls short in a few key areas that may degrade the experience for some.

Northstar’s lift infrastructure is a strong point. With the exception of real estate access, every run at the resort enjoys high-speed service from at least one lift. While Northstar can get crowded, the most popular areas have at least two lifts servicing similar terrain. Although unmarked, the Zephyr Express lift is actually a chondola (a gondola car follows every ~11th chair), which can provide welcome isolation from the elements on uncomfortable days. The gondola line is separate from the chairlift line, and it’s typically a shorter wait. If you’re really concerned about the wait and want to bypass lines altogether, you can throw down the extra money to buy a Platinum Pass.

Although most guests will only ride it once a day, it’s worth discussing a few annoying drawbacks to the Highlands pulse gondola, which primarily provides parking and condo access. The cabins on this lift have fixed grips, meaning that they cannot change speeds independently. As a result, the entire lift has to slow to a crawl every time a set of cars reaches the terminals. Despite ample space between these sets, you’ll still end up slowing down at least four times during your ride up. This can be really annoying as your first experience of the day on the mountain.

As you’d desire from a family-oriented resort, getting around Northstar is pretty easy. Signage is generally good, and the resort marks which trails have been groomed overnight. Safety-bar-mounted trail maps on most lifts help you plan where you’re going. Some mountain areas have flat traverses to get to or from certain places, but nearly all of these can be avoided with lift alternatives. Our one gripe is that the main route from Lookout to the Backside requires crossing under the Lookout Link surface lift, which may be nerve wracking for some.

While Northstar comprises 3,170 acres, terrain diversity falls short compared to other Tahoe-area resorts. That’s not to say it’s truly bad—the resort offers terrain for multiple ability levels—but you won’t find the naturally unique terrain that competing resorts enjoy. The resort sits at a lower elevation than some other Tahoe resorts and by and large lacks high-alpine terrain, such as bowls. Most mountain areas consist of similar-feeling trails, with the main difference often being their groomed status. 

Black diamonds at Northstar are a mix of groomed bombers and ungroomed mogul runs. Some runs are perennially groomed while others always stay ungroomed, but the groomed status of most of these runs tends to change every few days. Some trails feature a groomed side next to an ungroomed area, providing a good learning experience for those trying to practice moguls.

An enjoyable beginner experience is crucial for any family-friendly resort, and thankfully, Northstar delivers. Green trails mostly exist in the Village and Arrow areas; the resort clearly marks many of these runs as slow zones or family learning areas. The resort also has a bunny hill at the mid-mountain base. Although no green trails exist in upper mountain areas, experienced beginners should be able to handle the blue East Ridge run at the top of Mt. Pluto.

More than half of Northstar’s terrain is rated intermediate, and that’s the demographic that will arguably enjoy the best experience here. Every mountain area offers multiple blue, groomed cruisers, some of which are relatively short while others continue for quite awhile and allow you to build up speed. The best intermediate areas boast enough blue trails to keep a skier busy for an entire day. Occasionally, the resort will leave one or two blue runs ungroomed.

Like some other Tahoe resorts, Northstar doesn’t have any double black diamond runs. But unlike some of those resorts, there really isn’t any expert terrain here. The most challenging runs are steep and somewhat long, but none of them have truly precipitous pitches. Assuming reasonable conditions, advanced skiers should be able to handle almost everything at the resort.

Northstar has some really nice tree terrain, although woods off regular trails aren’t as widely spaced as at some other Tahoe resorts. There are a number of dedicated glade areas that provide more reasonably-spaced trees and less-tracked terrain, although during bad seasons without a good base layer, they may suffer from a few bare spots or remain closed. 

Northstar doesn’t have any true bowl areas, but the gate-accessible Rabbit Ridge glades offer wide open terrain with a few cliffs if you can find them. This area is barely advertised and isn’t even on the trail map, but it’s also rarely open—the ridge’s south-facing exposure results in conditions that are really only skiable a couple days per season.

Without question, Northstar boasts the best freestyle setup of any Lake Tahoe resort. An entire mountain area is dedicated to terrain parks, and it’s designed with progression in mind—the resort offers features for all freestyle levels here. A number of world-class setups exist, including two Lil’ Stash parks, a Burton terrain park, and two halfpipes. If terrain parks are your main driving appeal, you won’t be disappointed.

Northstar offers some great views of the valley below, and a few trails at the top of Mount Pluto offer spectacular views of Lake Tahoe. However, the resort itself isn’t overly striking. Don’t expect a local feel or isolated experience at Northstar—the resort feels ritzy and commercialized thanks to buildup in most lower and mid-mountain areas. Some of this buildup consists of members-only clubs or ultra luxury hotels, making for an unmistakably affluent atmosphere.

For the most part, Northstar contains large, well placed public lodges around major resort areas. But an unfortunate side effect of the resort’s exclusivity will manifest for those who try to stop in at Lookout Mountain’s Martis Camp base lodge, which is available to members only. While markings around the resort detail the private nature here, the lodge has the character of a normal base facility, making this reality unclear to some visitors until they try to go in. Making this mistake can be especially infuriating due to the long journey required to get to the nearest public facilities from here.

In addition, all food sold at Northstar is extremely expensive. You might be hoping to use your Epic Pass to get 20% off, but the discount isn’t valid until 2pm.

Northstar sees widely variable snow conditions, with some seasons enjoying unbelievable powder and others turning up dry. It’s not uncommon for the resort to go weeks without a snowstorm and then see more than a foot within a day. The resort tends to receive slightly less accumulation than competing Tahoe-area resorts, and in lower elevation areas, it tends to see wetter conditions.

Despite the variability, most non-glade areas ultimately stay resilient thanks to extensive snowmaking operations around the resort. While snowmaking mainly occurs during the early season to build a consistent base layer, it’s also employed during less-than-ideal snow years when temperatures permit. In addition, the resort is significantly less wind exposed than its competitors, and during stormy conditions, it may be the only major resort in the area that’s fully operating.

Lodging

Northstar offers a range of extremely nice but very expensive lodging options on-site in Northstar Village. Large groups that book very far ahead may be able to score some good deals on these properties. The Ritz-Carlton Lake Tahoe is located mid-mountain with direct ski-in/ski-out access. This hotel offers supremely luxurious accommodations, but despite its 5-star status, there’s no tennis court directly on-site (the facility guests can use is a 10-minute drive away).

More reasonable options can be found a short drive away in the nearby town of Truckee. Closeby north-shore towns such as Kings Beach and Tahoe City offer accommodations with excellent lake views, some of which are also reasonably priced. However, commuting from one of these towns may involve driving over difficult mountain passes with chain control during the winter.

Free parking will return to Northstar’s Village View lot for the 2020-21 season. Full-day access to this lot, which is adjacent to the Highlands pulse gondola, cost $20 last season. Another unpaid lot is available at the bottom of the access road, but it’s several miles from the base village and easy to miss.

Apres-ski

Given Northstar’s family-oriented nature, the resort doesn’t have the best nightlife. However, there are a range of activities available in the base village—these include shopping, dining, yoga and ice skating among others.

If you’re looking for more of a happy hour vibe, you can hit up the nearby town of Truckee. This town offers a range of bars and pubs with excellent happy hour deals, and it’s easy to hop between them. Some nights, you can find live music here.

Verdict

Northstar delivers an upscale family-friendly experience and top-tier terrain parks that those within driving distance should appreciate. However, if you’re looking to fly somewhere for a ski vacation, there are a lot better options out there. The mountain is quite expensive with relatively variable conditions, and for the same price, you can hit other mountains in the area with more diverse terrain, better lake views, and expert runs that are truly difficult. If you don’t have an Epic Pass, the mountain may leave you feeling short changed for what you get.