When Alta Journal’s staff gathered for our weekly pitch meeting and discussed writer Greg Campbell’s idea to cover an annual Colorado tradition that involves coffin races and 125-year-old Norwegian corpse look-alike contests, we responded with a unanimous “Yes!” Campbell’s Alta article, “The Original Frozen Dead Guy,” lived up to the writer’s hype. Tune in to Alta Live as we defrost with Campbell and Bo Shaffer to learn about the bizarre history of this festival, the posthumous journey of its honoree, and what it’s like to attend the genuinely bizarre West Coast event. Bundle up and join us!

ABOUT THE GUEST

Greg Campbell is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, film and video producer, and nonfiction author. His books include The Road to Kosovo, Blood Diamonds (made into an Oscar-nominated film), Flawless, and Pot, Inc.

Bo Shaffer is a planetary ecologist, cryonicist, and CEO of Delta Tech Inc. He is the former caretaker of Bredo Morestol, AKA the Frozen Dead Guy.

Here are some notable quotes from the event:

  • On the origins of the frozen dead guy: “[It] was Trygve [Bauge]’s attempt at do-it-yourself backyard cryogenics, which was to preserve his beloved grandfather on ice for however long it took for science to catch up to the potential to reanimate his beloved grandfather. The problem then was that Trygve had been responsible for keeping his grandfather on ice, keeping him frozen. So once he was deported, the quest became how to continue to keep Grandpa on ice.” —Campbell
  • On how the festival started: “This town of Nederland was stuck with Grandpa for better or worse, and the chamber of commerce had a pretty brilliant idea. It was like, ‘Well, you know, it’s kind of quiet around here in the spring. Let’s think about doing a festival.’” —Campbell
  • On the name of the festival: “We would use the term guy: You’re the big guy, I’m the biggest little guy, etc. When this thing came up, and I said, ‘I got this frozen body up on the hill,’ my son looked at me and said, ‘Oh, he’s a frozen dead guy, isn’t he?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I guess he is.’ That’s how we got the name Frozen Dead Guy. Eventually, that stuck with the festival. It’s always been a combination of the craziness and the actual ability to preserve your life, to extend your life.” —Shaffer
  • On Grandpa’s remains now: “Grandpa was removed from the shed, still frozen solid, and put into a new permanent facility at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, where he is now. He’s no longer under dry ice—Bo and his successors don’t have to buy dry ice in Denver and drag it all the way up the mountain once a month. He is now in a vat of liquid nitrogen, which science says is the best way to preserve human remains in cold temperatures, and he’s in a permanent facility.” —Campbell

Check out these links to some of the topics brought up this week.