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Frozen Dead Guy Days honors Grandpa Bredo. Bredo died in 1989 in Norway. After he died, he was packed in dry ice and shipped to a facility in California where he was placed in liquid nitrogen for almost four years.
Then, he was moved to Colorado in 1993 to stay with his daughter Aud Morstoel and his grandson Trygve Bauge, both strong advocates for cryonics who hoped to start a facility of their own.
If you peruse the laws of Nederland, you’ll discover that it’s illegal to store a frozen human or animal (or any body part thereof) in your home. We have Grandpa Bredo to thank for this. When grandson Trygve was deported in the mid-90s because of an expired visa, Bredo’s daughter stepped in to take care of the household – including keeping her father on ice.
Soon, Aud was evicted for living in a house with no electricity or plumbing and was about to head back to Norway. This meant that the family’s fledgling cryonics facility was destined to come to a halt. Worried that her father would thaw out before his time, she spoke to a local reporter, who spoke to the Nederland city council, who passed Section 7-34 of the municipal code regarding the “keeping of bodies.â€
Luckily for Bredo, he was grandfathered in and allowed to stay. Suddenly, he was a worldwide media sensation. And he has been well cared for by his family and community ever since.
Bo Shaffer saw an intriguing want ad on the Internet in 1995 posted by Trygve. He applied for the one-of-a-kind job, got it, and is now known as the “Ice Man.†Every month, Shaffer and a team of volunteers delivers 1,600 pounds of dry ice and packs it around Grandpa Bredo in his sarcophagus, surrounded by foam padding, a tarp, and blankets. As Cryonicist-in-Charge, Shaffer keeps Grandpa at a steady -60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Frozen Dead Guy Days has celebrated Bredo and winter for more than a decade. There are coffin races, polar plunges, frozen salmon tossing and other events.
Events at the 2013 Frozen Dead Guy Days in Nederland are being delayed Saturday because of snow and road conditions.
Boulder Canyon, Highway 119, was closed at 9 a.m. due to multiple crashes.
The Frozen Dead Guy Days website said "It is beautiful up here. Just like Christmas," at 7:30 a.m. "Take your time up the canyon."
At 9 a.m., the website announced that all events were being moved to 1 p.m.
