Question: Northstar in summer (off-season)

[TsuKata]

So, my DH and I are now on Northstar's e-mail list, from when we visited there this past spring. They recently sent us an e-mail talking about their off-season activities, noting that they had the lifts running so that you could go to the top of the mountain and that dogs were welcome. This led us to a number of questions that I figured the divas would know. Being mid-westerners with tiny little hills, these things aren't issues or questions at our local places. You can definitely walk down from the top, and they don't run the lifts in the off-season.

In no particular order:

Can dogs ride the ski lifts? Can they ride the gondolas?

When you ride the lifts to the top of Northstar, how do you get down? Do they set it up so you can ride the lift back down, or do you end up hiking down?

If you were going to hike down, isn't it pretty steep to get back down? Or, is the slope less steep without snow than it is with snow?

 

[Jilly]

Usually you can ride the lift back down. (At least at Tremblant you can!) Also there could be mountain biking for a way down. Some resorts offer this. Bikes go up with you on the back or side of the chair and you pedal your butt back down certain runs. Or you could hike back down.
Don't know about the dogs. I would think the first questions would be, is your dog going to sit still and not be afraid of heights?? Expect a leash law too.

 

[TsuKata]

Yeah, that's what we were wondering about with dogs.

I should note that we're not planning on going or anything...we were just really curious how this would work.

 

[altagirl]

Northstar definitely has some gnarly lift served mountain biking in summer. I haven't been there, but know some of the guys who build their trails and have heard good things.

I'm imagining they run it the same way most other resorts do who do lift served mountain biking in summer. Typically they will have mountain bike specific trails for downhill travel only and hiking and/or uphill specific trails. It's dangerous to mix the two, as the mountain bikers will be moving quickly and not expecting hikers or people going the wrong direction on lift served trails.

I would imagine they have some sort of leash law - I can't imagine it would be safe to let dogs run off leash where there are people biking at high speeds nearby, though I'm not sure about that. It's always possible that they have hiking trails far enough away from the biking trails that it makes sense. And I'm not sure about the procedure for bringing dogs on the lift.

 

[abc]

Trying very hard to remember what Northstar runs in the summer (I used to mountain bike there in the summer)...

Yes, dogs in gondola is simple, if it's specifically allowed. Just walk inside.

Don't know how dogs on chair works though. A bit hard to imagine.

You can ALWAYS ride the gondola/chair DOWN, unless you choose to hike down instead.

You're from the midwest. The surface in Northstar are largely loose dirt. It's quite hard to go up and down on. I don't know what kind of dog you have, she/he may or may not enjoy the slip and sliding down 2000 feet. There're some work roads you can walk down on. Not too steep. The only problem is all the first time mountain bikers blasting down it would be quite unnerving...

Northstar isn't the prettest of lift served mountains in Tahoe, though... If you're not mountain biking, there're a lot better trails for hiking.

 

[Daria]

Hi TsuKata!

I agree with all of the above. I don't know about dogs on the chairs although I do know they have (or used to have) a specially trained snow dog who did go on the chairs - but I think that would take a lot of training! There are some nice trails especially around the edges of Northstar that are greener and more scenic. The wild flowers are especially beautiful after the snow melts when everything is still moist. These are more in the cross country ski trail area. The main trails are pretty dusty. The trail systems do loop around to make the hike down easier. Outside of Northstar, there are many beautiful hiking trails to choose from. The Pacific Crest trail system is one. Squaw Valley also has their tram running in the summer. Lot's of fun stuff to do in the mountains while we are waiting for next season

 

[SkiNurse]

Go to their website and check out the summer info.

I know when I look at Vail's, they say no dogs on the lifts or in the gondola. I'm assuming every resort is a little different in what their rules are.

 

[TsuKata]

We did go to their website. These questions were based on the website in combination with the e-mail they sent us. As I mentioned above, we're not actually going. We just found it very odd how they implied dogs could ride lifts, and they mentioned that people could take the lifts up but never say how to come down. As I mentioned, we also figured there was no way to walk down, which is why this perplexed us.

I appreciate the helpful answers to appease our curiosity.

 

[abc]

As I mentioned, we also figured there was no way to walk down, which is why this perplexed us.

Yes, you CAN walk down.

Not that you want to though...