The North Ridge was a mountainous ridge on the planet Hoth. In 3 ABY, the Jedi Luke Skywalker was attacked by a wampa on the ridge, prompting his friend Han Solo to pass through the region while searching for him. The Imperial All Terrain Armored Transports of Blizzard Force later ascended the eastern end of the ridge on route to attack Echo Base, headquarters of the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
The North Ridge was a lengthy ridge of snow-covered mountains located on the planet Hoth. Its western end sat just south of Mount Ison, with the ridge running east along the southern edge of the Lanteel Glacier and then ending at the Kerane Valley.
In 3 ABY, the Jedi Luke Skywalker rode his tauntaun mount off the glacier into the North Ridge while attempting to investigate what he believed to be a meteor. A wampa then attacked him on the ridge, knocking him unconscious and then dragged Skywalker and his steed back off the ridge onto the glacier toward its cave. Skywalker's companion Han Solo later rode out on a tauntaun to search for his missing friend, passing through the ridge before locating him to the north.
When both Skywalker and Solo failed to return to Echo Base, the Alliance to Restore the Republic headquarters on Hoth, the T-47 airspeeders of Rogue Squadron were dispatched to search for the pair. When the squadron split up, Rogue Two pilot Zev Senesca began flying along the North Ridge from its western end, changing course toward the Lanteel Glacier when he picked up sensor readings over the ridge.
When the Galactic Empire later discovered the presence of Echo Base, it deployed the All Terrain Armored Transports of Blizzard Force onto the Moorsh Moraine to the far east of the ridge. The walkers Blizzard 1 and Blizzard 2 then crossed the Kerane Valley and ascended the North Ridge on a zig-zag path, emerging at the to amidst fog. Blizzard 4, which had unsuccessfully attempted a more easterly route toward Echo Base, then also ascended the North Ridge on a straighter path than the previous walkers.
The North Ridge first appeared in the 1980 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. Artist Malcolm Tween created the piece "The North Ridge" for the Star Wars Celebration 2020 art show, which was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in honor of the 40th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back. Tween had been particularly interested in doing a piece based on Hoth for the occasion, hoping to frame an event on Hoth from a perspective not seen in the film; in the end, he chose Vader's arrival over the North Ridge. While Vader canonically arrives into the Battle of Hoth as the attack is ongoing, Tween envisioned Vader arriving in its aftermath, approaching Echo Base over the North Ridge aboard a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle under the escort of two TIE fighterss. In doing so, the ships pass a downed AT-AT on the ridge.