The story about the Frozen Dead Guy Days festival and the history of Bredo Morstoel has appeared in the Norway publication, Budstikka. The article by Sidsel Havaal is titled: Bredo døde for 25 år siden. Nå ligger han på tørris og har egen festival
Translation: Bredo died 25 years ago. Now he lies on dry ice and has his own festival
En død bestefar fra Gjettum trekker tusenvis til festivalen Frozen Dead Guy Days i fjellbyen Colorado i USA.
Translation: A dead grandfather from Gjettum draws thousands to festival Frozen Dead Guy Days in a mountain town in Colorado in the United States.
It is a really long, interesting article. Thanks to Google Translation, here’s a sidebar of facts about Grandpa Bredo, the festival and Nederland:
Bredo Morstøl
- Born in 1900 in Romsdal.
- Died 1989 in Bærum.
- Employed as the District gardener in Bærum in 1935. Led and built up municipal park being until retirement in 1967.
- He designed and implemented new systems at several cemeteries, including Haslum. Here was a bunch baptized by him – Morstølhaugen – where he would rest, but where only his wife Anna Morstøl is today .
- Morstøl made capable of cultivation works in and through Lysakerelva, refurbishment of Burudvann and Jarmyra Athletic Park. Along with sports engineer Sigmund Fossum got Park Manager Bredo Morstøl much credit for Nadderud Railway in 1966.
- Died of a heart attack in 1989.
- Grandson Trygve Bauge had him frozen and shipped to the U.S., where he still resides on dry ice in a shed in the small town of Nederland, Colorado .
- The goal is that Morstøl should be frozen until science has progressed so far that he can be thawed and revived again. This is called kryonisering (cryonics).
- When the provisional kryoniseringsanlegget (?) was discovered, it created a sensation in the village.
- Morstøl, however, has been lying (I think it means lying in the TUFF SHED).
Frozen Dead Guy Days
- Annual festival in the small town of Nederland , Colorado, USA.
- Celebrating the city’s most famous citizen: Bredo Morstøl from the area, which lies frozen on dry ice in a shed at his grandson Trygve Bauges abandoned home in the hills above the city. Morstøl go here just under the name ” Grandpa” or ” Grandpa Bredo.”
- First celebrated in 2002.
- The festival includes likkisteløp (?) costume ball with Bredo Morstøl look-a-like contest, salmon throwing, ice swimming and bowling with frozen turkeys.
- Frozen Dead Guy Days took place over the weekend of March 7th-9th. It was probably the all-time most visited and may have benefited over 10,000 people visiting the tiny town.
- Nederland is just over a half hour drive outside of Boulder, at 2500 meters altitude and has about 1,500 residents.
Aud and Trygve in 2014 – photo by Sidsel Hvaal
Trygve Bauge
- Born: 1957.
- Grew up in Asker.
- Moved to the U.S. in 1980.
- Expelled from the United States in 1994 due to lack of visas.
- Known among other things, to have completed the world’s longest ice bath – and to have frozen his grandfather.
- Living at Hovseter.
- Planning to be frozen after his death.
The article gives more details about the family’s history with freezing – in 1868 a nine-month-old baby boy survived burial in an avalanche at the Ice Fjord in Romsdal. That baby grew up to become Bredo’s father.
The story details Bredo’s life in Norway and his family relationships, including with grandson Trygve Bauge. Apparently, Bredo did not die while back-country skiing at the age of 82, as the film “Grandpa’s in the TUFF SHED” asserts.
Bredo had heart trouble starting back when he was 76 years old. Because of heart problems, at one time his health was so reduced that he could barely walk. The cake-happy grandfather had to turn to a more heart-friendly diet and exercised to get back his mobility.
On November 6, 1989 Bredo Morstøl lay down to take an afternoon nap. When daughter Aud went to to awaken the 89-year-old with coffee and pastries, she found her father lying in bed — peaceful, warm, and dead.
Trygve Bauge in 1980s or 1990s.
Aud Bauge called her son Trygve in the United States. He wanted to freeze his grandfather. A funeral director in Norway helped with the official papers to send Grandpa to the U.S. for an official deep freeze in California. Extended family were not happy with the arrangements.
The story goes on to talk about the start of the Frozen Dead Guy Days festival. Trygve plans to have his own body frozen when he expires, and wants to move Grandpa’s body to the Cryonics Institute in Michigan. There may not be a Frozen Dead Guy for next year’s festival!