What It Takes to Win the World's Most Dangerous Cheese Chase

If you’ve ever done something mildly dangerous just for bragging rights—or let’s be real, for content—you’ll understand why Tom Kopke, a popular German YouTuber, willingly threw himself down a nearly vertical hill in Gloucestershire, England. Again.

Photo From: Associated Press News

The 2025 Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling event did not disappoint. Thousands of spectators lined the infamous slope, phones in hand, watching as competitors sprinted, tripped, flipped, and flailed their way down in pursuit of an 8-pound wheel of Double Gloucester cheese. It sounds like the stuff of internet comedy sketches, but this is a tradition with roots that stretch back centuries.

What exactly is cheese rolling?

Glad you asked. Each year, competitors hurl themselves down Coopers Hill—yes, hurl—chasing a rolling wheel of cheese that can reach speeds up to 70 mph. With a steep 1:2 gradient and an uneven, often muddy surface, this hill turns grown adults into human tumbleweeds. First one to the bottom (or first to catch the cheese, though that's nearly impossible) wins the coveted prize: the cheese wheel itself.

It’s wild, dangerous, and totally addictive to watch.

For the second year in a row, Tom Kopke emerged victorious, despite stiffer competition and a harder, drier slope that made tumbles more painful and landings less forgiving. “I risked my life for this,” Kopke told the Associated Press. “It’s my cheese. Back to back.”

And the internet cheered.

Because let’s face it: in the age of TikToks, adrenaline-fueled stunts, and people climbing milk crates just to fall off them, cheese rolling feels right at home. It’s the perfect blend of chaos and heritage—part Jackass, part folk festival.

The BBC even resurfaced old footage from 2005, a reminder that cheese rolling isn't just tradition; it’s nostalgia. It taps into that fearless, reckless part of us that once somersaulted down grassy hills as kids just because it felt like flying. Except now, it's grown-ups doing it, and thousands of us are watching from our screens, cringing and cackling in equal measure.

Sure, the event was deemed "unsafe" (what isn’t these days?), and yes, injuries are expected. But with only two reported this year, some might call that progress.

So why do they keep doing it?

For the cheese. For the glory. For the viral moment. And maybe, just maybe, because deep down we all secretly want to chase something that makes us feel alive—even if it’s a wheel of cheese barreling downhill at 70 mph.

Cooper’s Hill isn’t just a race. It’s a reminder that in a world that often feels too polished, sometimes the best moments are the ones where you let go, tumble headfirst, and hope you come out laughing—with cheese in hand.