SkiFree Controls and Tricks: How to Turn, Jump, Flip and Go Fast

The first time you play SkiFree, you crash into a tree within about four seconds. Everyone does. The skier is tiny, the trees come at you fast, and you have no idea what the keys do.

Here's the cheat sheet we all wished we'd had.

Steering

• Down arrow — point straight downhill. This is your fastest direction.
• Left and right arrows — turn through angles. Each tap turns you a bit more.
• Fully sideways — your skier stops.
• Tap sideways again — when you're already facing fully left or right, another tap shuffles you a small step across the slope.

The more you point downhill, the faster you go. Speed builds up gradually, so a long straight run feels like you're really picking up pace.

Going fast

Press F for fast mode. Your skier goes much faster. This is fun on the open slope, and it's the key to escaping the Yeti.

Jumps and moguls

Ski over a ramp or a bump and you'll fly into the air. While you're up there, you're safe from trees on the ground. In the original, you could pull off different moves in the air for style points, which matter in freestyle mode.

Crashing

Hit a tree, rock or stump and you'll tumble, stop completely, and get up again after a moment. Running into other skiers or the little dog is a classic too.

Restarting

When things go wrong — and they will — you can start a new run straight away.

On TropicGames

Our SkiFree uses the arrow keys to steer, F to toggle fast mode and Enter to restart. On a phone, use the on-screen buttons.

Next, try the different ways to play in SkiFree courses explained, or head back to the complete SkiFree guide.