North Star Mountain

Route: Southeast Shoulder
Posted On: 2/2/2025, By: cloudkicker
Info: Snowshoes not needed. The road from Hoosier Pass is very well booted and packed down. On the shoulder on and near the summer trail it’s a mix of sastrugi and wind scoured class 1+ talus/tundra. On the ridge, we wore crampons between the first summit and the true summit but quickly discovered they were total overkill. Spikes would be just fine. On the way back from the true summit we went without any traction (boots only) and didn’t have any problems. Just one small cornice to navigate shortly after gaining the ridge and it’s really not big enough to be a major concern. We went up and to the right of it. No other cornices present that were called out in previous winter trip reports. There was some annoying calf deep post holing on the summit ridge where the snow went from being hard packed to dry sugar/soft packed. Snowshoes still not worth it though IMO. Better to have increased range of motion in spikes on the summit ridge. 7hr 30min car to car but a lot of that was the tedious postholing in our crampons when they were not needed, so it took us maybe 45min longer than necessary on the ridge. Also lots of breaks. Summit register is intact and in great shape, plastic peanut butter jar with a memo pad (only 3-5 pages of entries) and a mechanical pencil. 

Route: Southeast Shoulder
Posted On: 12/14/2024, By: madmattd
Info: Enough snow below treeline that we used snowshoes for ~1mi on ascent, but didn't bother on descent and only postholed a couple times. From the 12.1k saddle to the Eastern summit there's some bare rock, some wind-packed snow sections, sections of thin snow cover, many sections of foot-deep snow of various density, and sections that are at least hip-deep. In other words, the typical early-winter tedious conditions with no correct gear choice - we booted and/or spiked and that was probably best overall though the snowshoes would have been handy in places. The ridge from the Eastern summit (the one marked on many maps, but NOT the true summit by ~200' of elevation!) to the true summit is currently passable with care - there's a lot of wind-packed lips (almost semi-cornices) to the South, with a fairly dry North side. We walked basically on the dividing line while ensuring any snow we stepped on was supported and not going to let go. It took time, a bit over an hour each way, but went fine. As noted by many others, that ridge is deceptively long - the true summit hides until you're halfway across and realize you've got a ways to go yet! The wind today was rough though manageable - a good chunk of the ascent to the Eastern summit (and descent of the same) was sustained solidly in the upper 20s mph with some mid-40s gusts. Interestingly most of the ridge traverse was comparatively tame and we hung out on the summit for 10-15 min in what was maybe 5mph breezes. Some evidence of an old-ish slide on the SouthEast side of the mid-ridge summit. 

Route: Southeast Shoulder
Posted On: 9/1/2024, By: cdgibbons
Info: Summer conditions, obviously. Lesser summits, greater views. New register as of 1/23. Lots of people somewhere on the mountain (bluebird Saturday of Labor Day weekend) but as far as I could tell, no one else summitted. Note that the topo map names "North Star Mountain" as the east subpeak, not the summit. The route on the shoulder is well cairned and easy to follow. It's also possible to stay on the road all the way to the highest visible mine, climb 20 feet of dirt directly above the mine, and pick up a good trail to the same ridge saddle. 

Route: Southeast Shoulder
Posted On: 7/5/2024, By: mijoflynn
Info: Mostly summer conditions, with just a few minor patches of snow remaining: on the road south of the Hoosier Pass hill (pic 1); at the base of the southeast shoulder (pic 2); just below "East North Star" as you start the ridge (pic 3); and halfway between "East North Star" and "The Butterknife" (pic 4). All are avoidable if desired; I went over them without any difficulty. There's no snow past "The Butterknife" (pic 5). FYI: Wheeler, on the other hand, does not appear to be in summer conditions: Wheeler Lake is still partially frozen, the upper lake is still totally frozen, and there's lots of snow in the upper basin yet (pic 6). That's my 200th different peak in CO! 

Route: Polaris Couloir
Posted On: 6/7/2024, By: adamhp93
Info: Road was still blocked about a mile from the summer gate, but almost completely dry; should open any day now. The trail itself was also dry until reaching the western end of the upper lake. Snow through the valley was surprisingly sturdy, with no snowshoes needed at 7am. They were nice to have on the way out, though. We actually ascended a couloir about 400m east of Polaris and then descended Polaris. Snow was higher quality and sturdier in Polaris, but both were decidedly soft. Definitely worth getting in and out early if youre thinking of doing this one. I did trigger a minute slide at about 13,000 that continued for quite a ways. My climbing partner was on skis, but I downclimbed the whole thing, and I was sinking to mid-calf easily by the time we exited Polaris at 11:15. 

Route: East Ridge
Posted On: 5/23/2024, By: GreatGlissader
Info: Snow almost the entire way from TH to summit. Some dry spots on top of that little hill to go over to get to the road junction at 12,100ft. East ridge to real summit was all snow and a lot more enjoyable than when it's rocky. 

Route: Polaris Couloir
Posted On: 5/14/2024, By: vertical_volume
Info: Climbed and skied North Star via Polaris couloir on Saturday from the blue lakes gate. Fully skinnable from the gate on Saturday but would expect parts of the road are melted out now, maybe 2-3 short ski carries? Polaris had a foot+ of pow in it and a recent slide in the lower half, crown was maybe a couple inches in height. We didnt see any instability on this day. Started at 7:13 am, sun poked thru for the first hour then full cloud coverage until we were in a snow globe. Clouds kept in a lot of the heat from the sun so when we dropped around noon wet slabs were just beginning to show. 

Route: Polaris Couloir
Posted On: 5/7/2024, By: jpacheco1982
Info: Started about 0.3 miles up from the lower trailhead for quandary peak. Blue lakes road was not plowed beyond this point. Started about 5am and made it to the base of Polaris couloir in about 2 hours. Did not use traction to this point. Was a cloudy day otherwise sun would have been hitting couloir about 615 to 630. The snow in the couloir was good for making steps when we ascended but not too soft. Snow was stable and there were no signs of rockfall. We took the right fork at the split at approximately 13200 and this took us to the ridge just south of summit. There was a very short rocky section to gain the ridge. We took ridge down to Hoosier pass and did a car shuttle. The ridge has some narrow sections but they are manageable with ice ax, crampons and poles. Used snowshoes once got back on road that took us to Hoosier pass as snow was getting soft in early afternoon. 

Route: Southeast Shoulder
Posted On: 3/28/2024, By: 14er101
Info: Windy - Went up to the eastern point (all trails summit) Snowshoes were necessary pretty much the entire way; Ridge looked snowshoeable; might want an axe. 

Route: Southeast Shoulder
Posted On: 1/9/2024, By: Will_E
Info: Cold, windy, blustery and viewless today, but conditions are good. I didn't need flotation or traction today. 

Route: Southeast Shoulder
Posted On: 1/1/2024, By: Istoodupthere
Info: First couple miles of the road was either hard packed snow or bare ground. The upper road has some punchy snow but still easily manageable. I stayed on the road until the end but I think I was supposed to leave it earlier. Gaining the ridge was easy enough. The ridge was a combination of firm snow and dry rock. A couple spots at the beginning of the narrow ridge had a bit of exposure with some snow, where careful footing was necessary. Fun, easy winter hike 

Route: Southeast Shoulder
Posted On: 12/9/2023, By: Laxer04
Info: Via Hoosier Pass. We brought snowshoes but didn't use them. They may have been helpful in spots but it was so cold (-20 with wind chill) and we just didn't want to deal with putting them on. Good amount of new snow on the ridge and that slowed us down a bit. 

Route: Polaris Couloir
Posted On: 11/29/2023, By: L1zzz1ee
Info: Approached North Star from Hoosier Pass. Decent amount of snow after the saddle. Would recommend snow shoes to speed travel. Pretty easy to stay out of avalanche terrain. 

Route: from Wheeler
Posted On: 11/18/2023, By: artemavovk
Info: none of the snow is solid, as expected; used spikes and ice axe to just have some traction on the rocks. most of the snow is not too deep but it's soft enough so it kinda helps on some downclimbs. coming off North Star down the standard route is patchy snow with somewhat supportive sections - didn't use spikes or axe. 

Route: Southeast Shoulder
Posted On: 10/23/2023, By: ColoNativeGal
Info: Just like Jan's report, minimal snow, easy to avoid. Some ice forming due to melt/freeze. Had spikes, did not need or use. This will change after the storm coming in this weekend. Was nice to be on this mountain with minimal wind for a change, normally it's howling. Great day to play.