Even though Martha Skinner knows it’s pretty much inevitable that she’ll go “ass over teakettle,” she can’t wait to chase a big wheel of cheese down Blackcomb Mountain again this weekend.

Skinner is preparing to defend her title as the 2009 female cheese-rolling champion at this year’s Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival on Saturday (Aug. 14) in Whistler. She said the way the race hill is designed — with a more level bottom after a steep decline — virtually everybody falls at the end of the race. Well, that’s if they make it that far.

In her first cheese rolling experience during last year’s festival, Skinner fell and literally rolled over the finish line into first place.

“You pretty much just went ass over teakettle,” she said. “No matter how hard you tried to slow down you, were going to fall in the end.”

The key to success, at least for Skinner, was to lean back into the hill and work at staying upright for as long as possible. Before last year’s races she had no prior cheese rolling experience, though she has a track and field background and a reputation for enjoying extreme sports.

Skinner moved to Whistler less than two months before last year’s competition and hadn’t even been on Blackcomb before race day.

“There was a moment of hesitation, but I did it anyway,” she said, describing the feeling of waiting at the starting line. “It was intense.”

If and when you fall, she advised any would-be competitors, try to do it gracefully. There will be a crowd of people just waiting to see you bail.

Cheese rolling is the simple, yet comical, act of a group of people running down a steep hill chasing a wheel of cheese. The cheese in question at this weekend’s race is an 11-pound wheel of cracked pepper verdelait made by Natural Pastures on Vancouver Island.

“It’s pretty hilarious,” Skinner said of watching others hurl themselves down Blackcomb chasing cheese. “The guys really get into it… the guys are insane.”

After various qualifying rounds and the finals, a male and female champion will be crowned out of some 200 competitors. The prize? The wheel of cheese, of course, and two Whistler Blackcomb season’s passes.

Skinner said her 11-pound prize from last year went pretty fast, though she didn’t eat it on her own. After shipping some home to family in Ontario and making a few huge trays of macaroni and cheese for her coworkers, there wasn’t much left.

This weekend marks the third annual Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival in Whistler, an event inspired by the 200-year-old tradition of cheese rolling in the U.K.

Though the spectacle of wipeouts on the hill is certainly an attraction worth checking out, there’s more to the event. A Canadian cheese farmers’ market will be set up, featuring games such as cheese bowling and Twister, plus cheese seminars and samples.

Skinner said last year she stayed all day to take in the festivities. The event was both fun and informative, with cheese producers on hand to introduce people to the world of Canadian cheese beyond cheddar and provide recipes and wine pairing suggestions.

“They put on an amazing festival,” Skinner said of event organizers the Dairy Farmers of Canada.

The third annual Cheese Rolling Festival starts at noon on Saturday (Aug. 14) at Base 2 on Blackcomb. Free transportation to the festival is offered on the Excalibur Gondola from Whistler Village, and festival admission is also free.

Contestants can register on site at the event. The downhill races are restricted to adults 19 and older, but uphill races are offered for kids. Visit canadiancheeserolling.ca for more info.