Hockey Stop
You'll be able to stop in a short distance with a quick, decisive pivot, giving you confidence on steeper green runs.
A quick, decisive braking technique — pivot both skis perpendicular to the fall line and set your edges to stop in a short distance.
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Watch & Learn
Key Moments
Equal weight, knees bent before the stop
Rotate both skis together 90° across the fall line
Drive knees uphill to dig edges into snow
Practice stopping left and right equally
What It Should Feel Like
- ✓Like a quick, decisive pivot and a smooth, firm edge set — not gradual
- ✓Your uphill edges biting hard into the snow
- ✓Your upper body staying calm while your legs pivot
Common Mistakes & Fixes
Stopping only to one side
Drill on your weaker side every session until it feels equal
Sitting back during the stop
Stay centered — lean back and you lose edge control entirely
Rotating shoulders with the skis
Counter-rotate — shoulders stay downhill, only legs pivot
Practice Drills
Speed 1-2-3 drill: ski at walking pace and stop, medium speed and stop, then faster — progressively build confidence
Left-right parity: count your stops each direction — keep drilling the weaker side until you feel equal on both
Touch-the-snow drill: after each hockey stop, reach down and tap the snow with your downhill hand to confirm you got low enough
The full guide
Reviewed September 2026
How to learn Hockey Stop
The hockey stop is a quick, decisive stop made by swinging both skis sideways across the hill and setting their edges. It's for skiers who can already make wedge turns and want a faster, more dependable brake. Once it's in your toolkit, you can stop in a short distance with your skis parallel, which makes steeper greens and easy blues feel far less intimidating.
What it is and when you'll use it
A hockey stop combines two movements: a quick pivot of both skis while they're nearly flat, then an edge set that turns the sideways slide into friction. You finish with the skis across the fall line, standing on their uphill edges, with your upper body facing down the hill.
You'll use it whenever you need to stop sooner than a round turn allows: at the bottom of a run, when a slower skier appears ahead, or when you reach a lift line or trail junction. It also builds the leg rotation and edge control that parallel turns depend on.
Before you start
You should be able to link wedge turns, stop with a wedge on demand, and slide sideways in a controlled sideslip on a gentle slope. If sideslipping is new to you, spend a session on it first. A hockey stop is essentially a sideslip that begins from a moving run.
Pick a wide, uncrowded green with soft, groomed snow; firm or icy snow makes the edges skitter. Stop only where skiers above can see you, never just below a blind rollover, and give people room, since a good hockey stop sprays snow.
Step by step
Learn it at walking pace first and add speed only once the movements feel automatic.
- Ski a shallow line across the slope with your skis parallel, your weight even on both feet, and your ankles and knees bent.
- Turn your chest and eyes to face down the hill. This is where your upper body stays for the whole stop.
- Rise slightly to lighten and flatten your skis so they're free to turn.
- Turn both legs together beneath your hips, swinging the skis until they point across the hill. Let them rotate under your feet rather than shoving the tails out.
- As the skis come across, sink back down and tip them onto their uphill edges by moving your knees and hips slightly toward the hill.
- Hold that flexed, edged position until you've fully stopped, with your hands forward. Most of the pressure will end up on your downhill ski, which is normal.
- Look uphill before you set off again, then repeat the stop to the other side.
Why it works
A flat ski has very little grip, so it swivels easily. That's why the pivot comes first, while the skis are light and flat. Once they're across your direction of travel, tipping them on edge turns your momentum into a scraping sideways slide, and that friction is what slows you down.
Keeping your upper body facing downhill while your legs turn lets the skis rotate quickly without dragging your whole body around. If your shoulders swing with the skis, you tend to overshoot, lean into the hill, and lose grip.
Edge angle works like a dial, not a switch. More edge and a deeper flex give a sharper, shorter stop, while less edge gives a gentler skid. Learning to adjust that dial is what makes the stop useful at different speeds.
How to practice it
Start with sideslips down a gentle pitch, releasing and resetting your edges to feel how grip comes and goes. Then, from a slow line across the slope, steer your skis a little farther uphill and set the edges to stop.
Aim each new starting line a little closer to straight down the hill. When stopping from a gentle straight run feels solid, add speed in small steps. Practice both directions every time, since most people favor one side.
Common questions
Why do my skis chatter during a hockey stop?
Chatter usually means the edges are catching and releasing rapidly. The common causes are leaning back, standing too stiff, or slamming the edges on firm snow. Stay flexed and centered, keep the pivot quick and decisive, and build the edge set fast but smoothly rather than slamming it all at once.
Do I need a hockey stop before skiing blue runs?
It isn't a formal requirement, but it's a very good idea. A dependable stop to both sides gives you a safety margin on steeper terrain, where a wedge alone becomes tiring and less effective.
Can you do a hockey stop on ice?
You can, but it's less forgiving and the stop takes more distance. On hard snow, set your edges smoothly rather than abruptly and plan your stops earlier. Well-tuned edges help noticeably.
Is a hockey stop the same as a parallel turn?
They share ingredients, but a hockey stop is abrupt and ends across the hill, while a parallel turn guides the skis through a rounded arc and flows into the next one. Practicing hockey stops is a common way to build the leg rotation and edging that parallel skiing needs.