A Mad Dash and a Mass Start: Is This Skiing's Most Chaotic Race? (Video)

Picture this. You're standing in a crowd of hundreds of other skiers. Somewhere in the distance are your skis. When the race starts, you need to beat the masses, click in, and speed downhill.



We aren't talking about some nightmare version of powder day pandemonium. Instead, this is a real race held at the Swedish ski resort Åre. Called Homerun, the race has a mass start that is as chaotic-or more, honestly-as it sounds.



In a recent video shared by GoPro, skier Erik Wahlberg takes us inside the absurd race, jostling with his competitors to gain a better position on the leaderboard. What starts as a mad dash on foot becomes a high-speed ski racing blitz.



Tap or click below to watch the race.



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Wahlberg's background as a ski cross racer is immediately apparent in this video. While he gets gummed up in the crowd early on, once he's atop his skis, he makes up ground (or snow?) quickly, narrowly sliding past other skiers in a tuck.



The impressive comeback wasn't enough for him to win the race or make the podium, though. Wahlberg ended up placing tenth overall.



Instead, for the men, first place went to Benjamin Hansson, who told Red Bull that he will "definitely be back next year to defend my title."



Ida Hellström won the women's ski field in her Homerun debut.



"It feels surreal. I never thought I would do this well my first time. My plan was to stay on my feet during the run at the start and then go straight down," she said, per Red Bull. "The double poling on the flat section before the final steep made the difference today."

Alongside awards for speed, Homerun also includes a costume category. Those honors went to the "Golden Oldies," a crew dressed as if they were "straight from Åre's retirement home."



They used walkers equipped with skis. All told, it looked to be another successful outing for Homerun, one of several offbeat races or competitions that arrive at ski resorts worldwide each spring. Similar events include the inaugural Sun Valley Stampede and the Rahlves Banzai, which made a recent return to Palisades Tahoe after a multi-year hiatus.

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This story was originally published May 5, 2026 at 3:12 AM.