The North Ridge existed as a mountainous formation upon the planet of Hoth. During 3 ABY, Luke Skywalker, a Jedi, suffered an attack by a wampa while on the ridge. This incident resulted in his friend, Han Solo, traversing the area in a search effort. Later, the Imperial All Terrain Armored Transports belonging to Blizzard Force climbed the ridge's eastern side as they advanced to attack Echo Base, which served as the headquarters for the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
On the planet Hoth, the North Ridge was a long series of snow-covered mountains. Its westernmost point was located just to the south of Mount Ison. From there, the ridge extended eastward along the southern border of the Lanteel Glacier, eventually terminating at the Kerane Valley.
Luke Skywalker, a Jedi, was riding his [tauntaun](/article/tauntaun] away from the glacier and onto the North Ridge in 3 ABY when he sought to investigate what he thought was a meteor. Subsequently, a wampa ambushed him on the ridge. The creature rendered him unconscious and proceeded to drag both Skywalker and his mount from the ridge back onto the glacier, heading towards its cave. Han Solo, Skywalker's comrade, later embarked on a tauntaun ride to find his missing friend, venturing through the ridge before successfully locating him to the north.
After both Skywalker and Solo didn't make it back to Echo Base, the headquarters of the Alliance to Restore the Republic on Hoth, the T-47 airspeeders from Rogue Squadron were deployed to search for them. As the [squadron](/article/squadron] divided, Zev Senesca, the pilot of Rogue Two, began his flight along the North Ridge starting from its western edge. He adjusted his course toward the Lanteel Glacier when he detected sensor readings emanating from the ridge.
Later, upon the Galactic Empire's discovery of Echo Base's location, it dispatched the All Terrain Armored Transports of Blizzard Force to the Moorsh Moraine, situated far to the east of the ridge. The walkers designated as Blizzard 1 and Blizzard 2 then traversed the Kerane Valley and ascended the North Ridge using a zig-zag path, ultimately appearing amidst the fog. Blizzard 4, having failed in an attempt to take a more easterly route toward Echo Base, also climbed the North Ridge, following a straighter path than the preceding walkers.
The North Ridge initially appeared in the 1980 original trilogy movie, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. Malcolm Tween, an artist, produced the piece "The North Ridge" for the Star Wars Celebration 2020 art exhibition. This event was conducted online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, commemorating the 40th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back. Tween was particularly drawn to creating a piece centered around Hoth for the occasion, with the goal of depicting an event on Hoth from a viewpoint not seen in the film. Ultimately, he opted for Vader's arrival over the North Ridge. While Vader's canonical arrival at the Battle of Hoth occurs while the attack is underway, Tween imagined Vader arriving in the aftermath, approaching Echo Base over the North Ridge aboard a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle escorted by two TIE fighterss. In this depiction, the ships pass a downed AT-AT on the ridge.