One of my favorite spots to visit in the North Lake Tahoe area is Northstar-at-Lake-Tahoe. They call themselves the “Mountain of Fun” and they take their fun seriously! One cool feature they offer is a big electronic board at the top of Mt. Pluto showing the exact wait times for all lifts and restaurants on the mountain. Genius!
A little bit about the mountain:
- North-facing Mt. Pluto is sheltered and tree-lined, providing protection from winter weather. Runs on this side of the mountain are long intermediate cruisers. Powder seekers and extreme skiers can find chutes and short shots of ungroomed tree skiing scattered among more gentle slopes.
- The backside of Mt. Pluto is more advanced with over 1800 vertical feet of groomed, ungroomed and mogul skiing and boarding. This side of the mountain is west facing, affording incredible views of Squaw Valley, but it also catches the brunt of most storms.
- The terrain is 25% beginner, 50% intermediate and 25% advanced.
- Interestingly, Mt. Pluto is an extinct volcano. Its last eruption, 2 million years ago, produced the lava and mudflows that damned what we now know as Lake Tahoe. Thanks, Mt. Pluto!
Favorite Ski Run
My favorite run at Northstar is the one most people save for the last run of the day. Starting at the top of Mt. Pluto, it is a 3-mile run that leisurely brings you down to the village below, enjoying spectacular views along the way.
We all know that lift tickets ain’t cheap these days. In fact, a lift ticket at Northstar is going for almost 80 bucks! But Northstar has a cool program called the Vertical Plus Program. You can buy a personal electronic bracelet that logs your vertical feet each time you board a lift. Vertical Plus members that their own lift access and can receive discounts and rewards based on the number of vertical feet they ski.
You really can’t go wrong spending the day or the week at Northstar. There is seemingly no end to the fun to be had. Winter activities at Northstar include:
- Skiing and snowboarding
- 83 runs serviced by 18 lifts
- Longest run is 2.9 miles
- Largest snowmaking operation in the area
- Super-pipe and half-pipe terrain parks
- Cross Country skiing
- Complimentary Ice Skating rink in the Village
- Tubing
- Mountain Tours
- Snowmobile and Dogsled Tours
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