text: i can roller skate very well, would i be able to ice skate easily?   there are some things that will come easily to you because you can roller skate, and others that will be hard. stopping is different, of course, as is spinning and some of the jumps. but your experience roller skating will definately help you.   one girl at my rink skates beautifully. she started about a year ago, on ice, but she'd done years on roller skates beforehand.   you should also know that tara lipinsky, olympic gold medallist in figure skating, started as a roller skater. in addition, a lot of (in fact, most of) the people on the us olympic team in speed skating are former inline-skaters. so the skills do transfer, to a certain extent.