Cheese Rolling: It's Not Just for the British Anymore

The second annual Käserollmeisterschaft der Berufskäser was held yesterday in Bern, Switzerland, in indirect competition with the famous Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling races in Gloucestershire, England. (How long will it be before there is an international cheese rolling association?)

The cheese rolling competition was only part of the Emmentaler 2009 event put on by Emmentaler AOC - that would be the folks who bring you Swiss cheese (The King of Cheeses). The event also included performances by Natacha, MatterLive and the young comedian Michael Elsener (that's Elsener, not Eisner).

Victory this year belonged to Andreas Küttel (pictured), who can now add cheese rolling to his resume, just below the entry for World Ski Jump Champion, thus making him a true two sport athelete, just like Bo Jackson (I wonder if Bo knows cheese rolling...?). Said Küttel:

Dieses witzige Plauschrennen hat grossen Spass gemacht. Und getreu meinem Wettkampf-Naturell habe ich natürlich auch beim Käserollen einen gewissen Ehrgeiz entwickelt.

A silver tongued lad, indeed.

For those of you who couldn't attend the event, you can still play the online cheese rolling game (in German, registration required).

Update: The Second Annual Canadian Cheese Rollling Festival was held in Whistler, British Columbia on August 15th. Whistler plays host to the 2010 Winter Olympics, which begs the question: will there be Nordic cheese rolling next year to go along with the Alpine competitions?

Update part deux: The 7th Annual Cheese Rolling Festival takes place in San Velentino, Italy NEXT WEEKEND (September 13). But where is the international cheese rolling association to regulate the competitions and test for performance enhancing drugs? And, by God, where are the Americans?

Sources:
Yahoo News Canada
Emmentaler
Cheese Rolling UK
Schweizerbauer
Pacific Northwest Cheese Project
Italian Feelings
Canadian Cheese Rolling