The 9th Bang

Bang Slalom, birthday party, and why snowboard events should never be on time

Words and photos – Kenneth Erlandsen

It hits a little harder than expected every time I roll back into Hemsedal. Same story this year over the May 1st weekend.

Maybe it’s because this is where it all started—winter of ’95, when my childhood friend Thomas first taught me how to snowboard.

On a Sims Shaun Palmer board—the one with the iconic Cadillac logo—I found my way into a lifelong obsession. That was it. Life rerouted with a purpose. 

So in a way, it feels like the circle closes when that same lifestyle brings me back here 31 years later—to celebrate Thomas turning 50 on May 1st, and to attend the Bang Slalom the day after.

The transformation of a Valley
Since I first started coming to Hemsedal in the mid-90s, the place has gone through a full-blown transformation. In 1998, the Swedish company SkiStar took over Hemsedal Skisenter — and with that came a cleanup of the old chaos. Spots like Totten Camping, home to the legendary Totten Hard Core crew, disappeared into history.

Today, the base area that used to house Totten Camping, is stacked with hotels, retail, fresh lifts and new runs. Higher up the mountain, cabin villages and restaurants serve lounge beats under antler chandeliers big enough to feel slightly absurd.

It is high-alpine culture on steroids. A polished, resort-heavy version of the mountains — with architecture inspired by Les Arcs, Avoriaz, and Aspen..

While SkiStar scaled things up, the other ski area in Hemsedal, Solheisen in Grøndalen stayed on its own path — locally owned, rooted in landowners and enthusiast since the 1970s.

And that, like Mike Ranquet puts it – matters.

Because this is where Bang Slalom has landed over the past five years, after earlier editions being held inside the SkiStar system. The shift makes sense. Solheisen is run by people with roots in snowboard culture — and you feel it in every detail.

The Beauty of Being Late

“Event starts at 10:00—make sure you’re there before that,” Mikkel Bang posted on Instagram the week leading up to the event.

Which, in snowboard time, translates to 11:00. At the earliest.

And honestly, that’s part of the charm. Events where the schedule is more of a suggestion than a rule just feels right. Snowboarding events still does that better than any other sports — unpretentious, unpolished, and way more fun because of it.

Up at the start gate, I catch Swedish banked slalom heavyweight Pontus Ståhlkloo dialing in his setup. Between flexing his new triple-BOA boots, he casually mentions wrapping his season up with yet another banked slalom in Riksgränsen later in May.

A few minutes later, he drops. Second fastest time of the day. In casual Ståhlkloo style.

The Best Bang Yet?

“The course is insane—so fun to ride,” Ben Ferguson and Stan Leveille tells me, waiting to drop for their second runs.

“This have to be the best Bang Slalom course to date,” adds Mads Jonsson, before our conversation drifts into his coastal food project out at Stad.

Feedback like that has to land well with Bang and the Solheisen crew, who’ve been grinding nonstop for the past week shaping the course. The turns clearly show they’ve been hand-shaped through manual digging — not built by machines —flowing perfectly down toward the valley floor.

“We’ve had +18°C the last few days,” Bang tells me from the start hut. “We didn’t salt the course—just trusted the cold nights to hold it together.” A wise decision, it turned out.

And then there’s the start gate. Heavy timber, framed with traditional fencing—a nod to old Norwegian building culture. It’s solid, functional, and yeah… pretty damn photogenic.

Every banked slalom should have a proper start gate. This one delivers.

Lunch Breaks & Delays

By 13:00, I have to bail—straight into the car and across the valley to SkiStar territory for Thomas’ birthday lunch at Skarsnuten Hotel.

The contrast is immediate.

From Solheisen’s raw, grassroots vibe to full-blown resort polish.

At Skarsnuten, nothing runs late. Pizza lands exactly when it should. As I’m stacking slices, I glance up at the chandeliers and wonder—half-seriously—if they came from the Epstein estate auction. That’s the energy. Oversized, tacky, and borderline ridiculous.

Back to Reality

After lunch, a quick call to Solheisen confirms what I expected – the event is still running.

Thanks to the earlier delays, I make it back just in time to catch Øyvind Kirkhus send a double backflip over the bottom hip—a clip that’s already gone viral by the time you’re reading this.

If there were a category for “Most Entertaining Rider of 2026,” Kirkhus would sweep the podium. No question.

And the Winners Are…

At Bang Slalom, who wins what isn’t really the point. But still — handing out some glory still matters.

Fastest times on snowboard and snowskate? Mikkel. Emine. Terje. Pontus. Anna. The usual suspects.

But Bang Slalom isn’t about who wins.

It’s about bringing the snowboard community together. Linking up with friends you haven’t seen in years. Riders from all over the world—groms to pros—dropping into the same course.

Mikkel Bang and his crew have cracked the formula with the Bang Slalom format — and that’s why riders and spectators keep coming back year after year.

2027 – 10 Years of Bang

Next year marks a decade of Bang Slalom.

With the way grassroots snowboarding events are building momentum—and the status the Bang Slalom has carved out over the past nine years—2027 is shaping up to be something special.

Lock in the first weekend of May 2027 — and don’t be surprised if Mikkel Bang throws a proper 10-year celebration party. And ends up on top of the podium. Again.