The Story of the Frozen Dead Guy

Who is Grandpa Bredo? Bredo Morstoel was a director of Parks and Recreation in Baerum County, Norway for over 30 years. After his retirement in 1971, Bredo enjoyed his hobbies of painting, fishing, cross-country skiing and hiking in the mountains. He had a heard attack in 1974; however he eventually died of heart failure during a nap at the family's mountain retreat in Norway on November 6, 1989.

Who froze him and why? Bredo's grandson, Trygve Bauge, had him frozen, through a process called Cryonics. Cryonics is the perservation of legally dead humans at very low temperature (below -200 degree Fahrenheit, -130) in the hope that future science can restore them to life, youth and health. It is a speculative technology that presumes medicine will someday be able to cure the disease that caused the death of the person who was frozen. At this time, technology and medicine have not advanced to the stage of determining how to re-animate the frozen bodies or how to heal them.

How was he frozen? Grandpa was originally packed in dry ice at an undertaker's in Norway, and then shipped to the Trans Time facility in Oakland, California, where he moved from dry ice to the superior liquid nitrogen for nearly four years. He now rests in his original steel coffin, which is packed tightly in dry ice in an insulated wooden box stored in a Tuff Shed above Nederland, Colorado. Did Grandpa Bredo want this? No one knows. He died before Trygve could discuss it with him. Both Trygve and his mother, Aud, plan to be placed in Cryonic suspension after their deaths as well.

Why is Grandpa in Nederland? Grandpa's grandson, Trygve, had lived in Boulder since 1980, and his family, including Grandpa, visited Nederland in 1982. Trygve and his mother, Aud, bought property in Nederland in the early 1990's with a vision of building a cryonics facility to serve numerous clients. Grandpa moved to Nederland in December 1993, and placed in a metal shed (considered the first phase of the cryonics facility) on the property. Shorthly after that, Trygve was deported back to Norway due to an expired visa, and his mother was evicted from the house when it was found to have no plumbing or electricity. Her visa soon expired, and she too returned to Norway, leaving Grandpa behind.

Who takes care of him? Bo Shaffer, the''ice man'', has been packing Bredo in dry ice since 1995. Every few weeks Bo drives to Denver and hauls nearly a ton of dry ice up to the shed in Nederland.

Who pays for this ? Bredo's daughter, Aud, and Grandson Trygve have invested significant sums to maintain Grandpa. The ice and its delivery cost them over $ 700 a month. This is in addition to maintaining the property and the shed.

Isn't that illegal ? When Nederland officials learned of the situation in 1994, they passed an emergency ordinance to make it illegal to keep dead human or animal bodies or parts on one's property. Laws can't be passed after the fact, so Bredo was ''grandfathered' in.

Why is there a frozen dead guy days festival? The Town of Nederland was swarmed with international attention when the news of Gradpa was first revealed in 1994. The flurry of activity subsided, and eight years later, in 2002, the Nederland Area Chamber of Commerce decided it was time to re-animate the story of Grandpa and help its downtown enjoy a lively weekend in the quiet months of winter. Grandson Trygve calls it ''Cryonics' first Mardi Gras''. It usually takes place the first week-end of March and features live music, coffin races, plunging into polar cold water. It attracts over 10,000 people every year.

Freeze your date for 2012...