This weekend, Trondheim, Norway hosted the biannual World Beard & Moustache Championships! As reported by BBC News, the winner was German hairdresser Elmar Weisser, who sculpted his beard into a reindeer.
In 2005 he won with with a beard styled into the shape of Berlin’s Brandenberg Gate, and in 2007 with a representation of London’s Tower Bridge.
He said he had begun preparing his creation for the Trondheim event at 7am, with the help of his sister.
“When my beard isn’t styled, it goes down to my waist. It is sort of folded up,” he told the AFP news agency.
There are more pictures (from previous years) here at CNN, and I am also pleased to report that Official Wondermark Beard Correspondent Pat Race is on the scene in Norway as well!
Pat and his Beard Team Alaska Robotics entered the competition as part of the American contingent. On his blog he’s been keeping a travel journal, including a ton of great pics and audio interviews with competition participants.
Pat’s also been updating a Flickr stream with photographs from the trip and the competition. Note that Pat called the winner beforehand, in an email to me — this is a keen beard observer. Or perhaps the reindeer beard was just obviously unstoppable in every way.
Check out more on-the-scene photos from the 2011 (and the 2009) WBMC on Pat’s Flickr!