Stopping in the skeleton outrun: what is established (no brake), what is only secondarily supported and why you learn this only with a coach and briefing.
The honest answer: A skeleton sled has no brake [1]. After the finish it slows down in the outrun, which according to a newspaper report leads back uphill so that gravity helps with braking. The rider sits up and puts the feet down, according to the account [2]. A clear limitation applies: this is only a secondary source. A design blog quotes the newspaper report and itself found no video that shows the slowing down in skeleton [2]. We found no federation or study source that describes the method.
That is why this guide is unusual: it tells you above all what we cannot support, and why you should not find out the stopping on your own.
What is established: skeleton is ridden prone, head-first, up to 140 kilometres per hour, at up to 5 g. On fast corners the chin can scrape the ice and obscure the view [3]. The top values in singles skeleton are, according to a review article, about 135 to 150 kilometres per hour for men and 125 to 140 for women [4]. For comparison from luge, which is not skeleton: there the athlete slows down by sitting up, bringing the seat onto the ice and lifting the sled's nose [5]. That is a hint at the principle, not proof for skeleton.
Realistically: this is a skill for a coach's briefing, not for solo attempts. We grade it as "intermediate" because it builds on the lying position and occurs only on the track.
Walk the outrun on foot: where does the finish zone end, how long and how steep is the outrun, where are barriers, where does staff help? The outrun differs from track to track.
Milestone: You sketch the outrun of your track and mark where you may stand up again.
Have the coach explain how you slow down on this track. The account in the press is: sit up and put the feet down [2]. Whether and how you do that is decided by your coach, not by an article.
Milestone: You can restate the method of the club in your own words.
In the mind run that athletes use for the whole track [5], also go through the outrun: finish, corner after the finish, sitting up, standstill.
Milestone: You ride the last corner and the outrun in your head in the planned order.
The first runs start low on the track and end at low speed. That way you practise slowing down without the speed being high straight away.
Milestone: You come to a controlled stop in the outrun without hitting the wall.
Stay lying or sitting until you feel well, and report dizziness, headache or neck pain at once. Concussions affect 13 to 18 percent of athletes in sledding sports [6].
Milestone: After each run you tell the coach how you feel.
Ask your coach about the last corner and the outrun of your home track before you see the track for the first time. The outrun is the part of the track that is usually cut off in videos. That is coaching practice. That even the press found hardly any images of it reflects our source problem [2].
No. The sled has neither brake nor steering device [1]. It is steered and slowed with the body and by the track.
According to a newspaper report quoted by a design blog, riders slow down by sitting up and putting their feet down, in an outrun that leads uphill [2]. That is a secondary source, we cannot confirm it.
That depends on the track. Top values in singles skeleton are about 135 to 150 kilometres per hour for men and 125 to 140 for women [4]. We do not name the finish speed.
No. You learn the method in the briefing on the track, with a coach and helmet.
Tell the coach at once and do not ride on. Dizziness or headache after bumpy runs are known as "sled head" [6].