Mountain
How big it is and what the skiing is like, each figure with its U.S. rank.
Lifts: the count the resort advertises; resorts differ on whether surface lifts and carpets are in it.
Terrain · the resort’s own difficulty mix
· ·
- Beginner
- Intermediate
- Advanced + expert
Northstar California publishes three levels, so its top share counts advanced and expert terrain together. · · .
Snow and weather
The National Weather Service forecast for the summit and the base, and the snowpack measured nearby. Live: each figure gives its source and time.
Webcams
Live from Northstar California’s own cameras, each in the player the resort’s page uses. Press play to watch; one plays at a time.
3 cameraschecked Oct 3
Northstar Mt. Pluto Summit
Nothing loads from Brownrice until you press play.
Camera: Northstar California · Brownrice player · from northstarcalifornia.com
Trail map
2025–26 season · artist not stated
Seen as a trail map shows a mountain: from the base looking uphill, the ground tilted up (heights ×1.5); the arrow points north and the scale holds across the page. Runs and lifts as OpenStreetMap's contributors have mapped them, on the ground from USGS elevation data, with a stronger contour every 500 ft. The key counts the lines OpenStreetMap draws, not the resort's runs (its own list is on the run map); bowls and glades mapped as areas are a faint fill in their difficulty's color. The resort's glades and bowls are drawn as areas: OpenStreetMap's own where it maps one, otherwise drawn by Aurora around OpenStreetMap's line, up to 60 m each side and halfway to the next run or lift, so their edges are approximate.
Runs
Every run Northstar California lists, on its trail map and in a list side by side, to tick off as you ski them.
- Skied itRegular
- Foil44 runs
- Holo87 runs
Getting there
Reno–Tahoe International (RNO) 55 min · Truckee Tahoe (TKF) 13 min
Photos
Photographs of the ski area we may republish, each credited to its photographer. Open one to see it whole.
Passes
The multi-resort passes Northstar California is on, and what each gives here.
Epic Pass
UnlimitedEpic Pass 2026-27: Unlimited access to these world-class resorts — Every day of the season, including peak dates.
Rankings
Where Northstar California stands among the U.S. resorts with each figure, and within California.
- Summit elevation#74 U.S., top 100of 342#9 of 23 in California
- Highest lift-served elevation#77 U.S., top 100of 471#8 of 25 in California
- Base elevation#91 U.S., top 100of 317#19 of 23 in California
- Advertised vertical drop#52 U.S., top 100of 390#5 of 24 in California
- Lift-served vertical#46 U.S., top 50of 305#4 of 21 in California
- Skiable acres#12 U.S., top 50of 319#4 of 23 in California
- Named trails#40 U.S., top 50of 352#5 of 24 in California
- Longest run#23 U.S., top 50of 181#3 of 18 in California
- Advanced + expert terrain#147 U.S., outside the top 100of 209#16 of 21 in California
- Beginner runs#68 U.S., top 100of 209#6 of 21 in California
- Total lifts#14 U.S., top 50of 480#4 of 27 in California
- Average annual snowfall#38 U.S., top 50of 253#10 of 20 in California
- Airport drive#110 U.S., outside the top 100of 506#4 of 29 in California
- Big airport drive#92 U.S., top 100of 505#4 of 29 in California
- Closest airport drive#244 U.S., outside the top 100of 507#5 of 29 in California
Sources
Every figure on this page in one list, and the pages behind each.
