There is no way a rear brake stopping method (skid, whatever) can stop as fast as a front brake.

When you brake hard w/ a rear wheel, your momentum unweights the back wheel a bit making the friction you're creating w/ your backpedaling/skidding even less effective. When you brake with your front brake, your rear wheel will unweight but the front wheel will still provide stopping power.

And what happens when you want to go down that 40 degree hill w/o a front brake? Sucks to be you.