Sixth annual Frozen Dead Guy Days endures snow

Nederland’s sixth annual Frozen Dead Guy Days concludes today. The town festival is inspired by the discovery of Bredo “Grandpa” Morstoel’s cryogenically frozen corpse in a shed next to his family’s mountain home in 1994. He now rests in his original steel coffin, which is packed in dry ice in an insulated wooden box and stored in a Tuff Shed above Nederland.

Here is a schedule of today’s events:

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Big Top Tent opens in the Town Square parking lot.

10 a.m. to noon “One Too Many Frozen Dead Guys,” a murder mystery book that takes place during the festival, is on sale at Frozen Dead Guy Days Theater in the Best Western Lodge at 55 Lakeview Drive. Meet the author, Pam Stockho.

10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. International award-winning documentary “Grandpa’s Still in the Tuff Shed” by the Beck Sisters of Boulder. It’s about the discovery of Bredo Morstoel’s cryonics existence in Nederland and will be shown in the Best Western Lodge at 55 Lakeview Drive.

11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. “Real Cryonics,” a film from the cryonics community shown in the Frozen Dead Guy Days Theater in the Best Western Lodge at 55 Lakeview Drive.

11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundance Salmon Toss and Sunday Brunch at the Sundance Cafe and Lodge, 23942 Highway 119.

Noon-? Frozen turkey bowling at Stage Stop Inn in Rollinsville at 60 Main Street. Live music afterward.

1 p.m. Rocky Mountain Oyster Eating Contest at First Street Pub and Grill, 35 E. First Street; $10 contestant fee, with $100 cash prize for the fastest and greatest oyster eater.

3 p.m. Brain freeze contest on the patio of Whistler’s Cafe, next to Big Top Tent.

5 p.m. Special closing ceremony at the town roundabout. Take your final walk around the snow sculpture and enjoy a frozen treat.

and here is even more information:

Chances are it's nothing the community would rally behind. Few towns recognize the need to celebrate a rusty wheelbarrow or leaf blower.

But lucky for Nederland, one of its landowners uses his backyard shack to store the state's favorite Grandpopsicle. Bredo Morstoel, who's been packed in dry ice since 1993, has put the town on the international map. The New York Times, The Guardian of London, BBC and the Herald Sun in Melbourne, Australia, are just a few of the media outlets that have marveled at the town's not-quite-living citizen and the festival that fetes his frozenness.

Yet despite its international acclaim, the annual Frozen Dead Guy Days and its chilling competitions have been dominated by the locals. Before this year's festival this weekend, we asked them for some insight and tips:

Frozen T-shirt Contest

4:30 p.m. Saturday in the Nederland Town Square parking lot

Organizers soak 30 T-shirts in water, fold them up, seal them in plastic bags and freeze them for a week. Then it's a race to see which contestant can rip one open and unfold it quickest. "Last year I felt terrible," said Bunny Spangler, owner of the Pioneer Inn, which had hosted the contest. "It was pretty darn cold. Some of the people got bloody knuckles." Spangler offers this tip on winning :

• Go to the dark side: "Dark T-shirts strangely enough are easier to open. I don't know why. I tried to make them all even, but they've always had better luck opening the darker ones."

Other cold contests

Just about every establishment in Nederland is offering a chance to chill out Sunday

• Sundance Salmon Toss, 11 a.m. Sunday at the Sundance Cafe

• Frozen Turkey Bowling Contest, noon Sunday at the Stage Stop Inn at Rollinsville

• Rocky Mountain Oyster Eating Contest, 1 p.m. Sunday at the First Street Pub and Grill.

• Brain Freeze Contest, in which contestants chug ice slurpies for prizes; 4 p.m. Sunday on the patio at Whistler's Cafe.

Grandpa Look-alike Contest

8 p.m. today at Grandpa's Blue Ball at the Black Forest Restaurant

This simply entails dressing and acting the part of Bredo Morstoel, he who is frozen in a Tuff Shed. The winner gets a prime spot in the parade, bragging rights and $100. Ray Rovey won a couple of years ago, but didn't defend his crown last year ("I thought I'd let someone else win it"). Another year he was trumped by a Belgian actor who came with a makeup crew. Rovey can't tell you what other participants look like (he's blind) but he can share his tips:

• Don't skimp on makeup: "I've got a friend who paints me up. She uses a lot of white hairspray, gets it all poofed up. Then she draws lines on my face. She says I'm the spitting image of him."

• Dress the part: "He was quite the skier, so I get some knickers, a big turtleneck sweater, make myself look Norwegian."

The coffin race

2 p.m. Saturday at Chipeta Park

The centerpiece of the weekend's celebration involves a team carrying a homemade coffin containing a (live) teammate all over Nederland's Chipeta Park. Competitors go over and under playground equipment, climb banks of snow and - for those with true spirit - wear themed costumes. As the rules state: "Dropping the coffin is very bad form and may disqualify your team from the race." A team sponsored by Nederland's Over the Rainbow Preschool won last year and has placed in previous races. The school's executive director, L.J. Werner, shared these keys to success:

• Hang on to your coffin: "The first year we lost our coffin in all the excitement and celebrating. Or maybe I should say someone borrowed it for an extended period of time. "

• Don't practice: "I know teams that have, but we've never practiced. It's all about going for the moment. "

The Ice Queen Contest

10 p.m. today at Grandpa's Blue Ball at the Black Forest Restaurant

It's anyone's guess what the Ice Queen's supposed to look like. Hillary Stevenson won two years ago after dressing like an abominable snow-woman. She won last year after dressing completely in blue. She offer these tips:

• Think on your feet: Your answers to the judges' questions are key. "You've got to be quick and show some personality. A lot of people just stand there and go . . . 'uuuuuh.' "

• Bring dog treats: Ray Rovey will help judge. Because he's blind - and says he's been told he can't "judge with his hands" - he's letting his guide dog help pick a winner.

Frozen in time

Chronicling Grandpa's rise from anonymity in Norway to celebrity status in Colorado

• 1900 - Bredo Morstoel is born in Norway.

• 1989 - He has a heart attack after a day of skiing in Norway.

• 1990 - His grandson has him cryogenically frozen in California. Whether Morstoel wanted to be frozen is another matter. His grandson has said Morstoel died unexpectedly, "before I had taken time to ask him if he wanted to be suspended."

• 1993 - His grandson brings Morstoel's body to Nederland, where he has built a makeshift mausoleum out of plywood encasing a steel coffin, insulated by cardboard boxes packed with dry ice.

• 1994 - Morstoel's grandson is deported by the INS, leaving his mother to take care of the frozen grandpa.

• May 1994 - Nederland officials learn for the first time about the DIY cryogenic lab, freak out and pass a law banning the storage of frozen flesh. Morstoel is "grandfathered" in.

• 1995 - Winds nearly destroy the old tin shed protecting Morstoel's body. Tuff Shed and 103.5 The Fox donate a new one, emblazoned with the radio station's logo.

• 1996 to present - Morstoel's grandson continues to pay $6,000 to $7,400 a year to keep Grandpa frozen.

• 1998 - Boulder sisters Robin and Kathy Beeck film Grandpa's in the Tuff Shed, a 28-minute ode to Nederland's most famous inhabitant.

• 2002 - Teresa Warren, who runs the Off Her Rocker antiques shop, suggests a festival honoring Morstoel.

Colorado's other coffin race

Winning Nederland's race isn't enough to capture the crown as Colorado's best coffin-racing team.

If you want to hoist the Coffin Cup, you have two courses to conquer. In addition to Nederland's race each March, Manitou Springs every year hosts the Emma Crawford Coffin Race to celebrate a turn-of-the-century resident whose remains washed down the mountainside after stormy weather eroded the granite in which she was buried.

The winner from Manitou Springs travels to Nederland to take on the fastest team this weekend (3 p.m. Saturday). Likewise, Nederland's fastest heads south each October to take on Manitou's finest on their course.

The one wrinkle: Manitou's race is on wheels, much like a soap-box derby, while in Nedererland they carry the coffins. So each team must retrofit its coffins for one race each year.

Frozen Dead Guy Days

• When and where: today through Sunday in Nederland

• Admission: Most events are free to watch but have fees to enter.

• Information: nederlandchamber.org/FrozenDeadGuyDays/ or 720-374-6742