The first ever Beard Team USA National Beard and Moustache Championships will take place on Saturday, June 5, 2010, in Bend, Oregon.

There will be competition in four separate categories. The winner in each category will walk away with a cool $1000. So that everyone gets a shot at the cash, the fifth $1000 prize will go to a contestant selected at random.

Categories

1. Best moustache. Beards are allowed in this category but the contestants will be judged on their moustaches only;

2. Best partial beard. Includes goatees, van dykes, sideburns, musketeers, etc.;

3. Best full beard. Styling aids are permitted;

4. Freestyle. Anything goes. Anything. Be creative.

Like membership in BTUSA, the competition is open to everyone. There are no annoying qualifying events, drug tests, or dues.Located on the Deschutes River in Central Oregon, Bend offers fly-fishing, rafting, golf, canoeing, mountain biking, hiking, and possibly even late season skiing and snowboarding at nearby Mount Bachelor. Did I mention beer? Bend is the home of seven microbreweries including the famous Deschutes Brewery practically next door to the Les Schwab Amphitheater where the competiton will take place.Visit Bend is a major sponsor of the event.The championships will take place in conjunction with the 8th Annual Balloons Over Bend hot air balloon festival.Stay tuned for information on registration, lodging options, transportation from the airport in Portland, and everything else you will need to know.

For now all members, fans, and friends of the WBMC are asked to:

1. Make plans to be in Bend on June 5;
2. Join Beard Team USA if you haven’t already done so;
3. Tell everyone they know about the BTUSA Nationals;
4. Keep growing their beards and moustaches for America.

Beard Team USA photo courtesy of Devon Blunden.

Hometown favorite and Beard Team USA member David Traver was crowned overall champ, having styled his beard to resemble an Alaska snowshoe which earned him top honors in the freestle full beard category. Meanwhile Germany’s Karl-Heinz Hille’s elaborate moustache earned him second. San Franciscan Jack Passion placed third with his long, red natural beard. The winners took home engraved gold pans.

The next HUGE event in the sport of bearding will be the Beard Team USA Nationals in Bend, Oregon on June 5, 2010, where $5000 in cash prizes will go to best beards and moustaches in the USA. The competition is open to everyone. Even Canadians!

Unofficial Trophy Count

In 2007, the World Beard and Moustache Association, an organization made up of beard clubs representing some 10% of the participants at the World Beard and Moustache Championships, accepted the proposal of the Norwegian Moustache Club to hold the 2011 world championships in Trondheim, Norway in a room with a seating capacity of 250.