2015 / People / Culture (Non-Pro)

Coffin Racing

  • Photographer
    Mariela Rueda
  • Prizes
    Bronze in People/Culture

Every year the “Frozen Dead Guy Days” takes place in Nederland, Colorado (USA). This is an irreverent, quirky and funny festival where teams wearing costumes race on the snow carrying a coffin with a “dead guy.” This event honors Bredo Morstol, known as “Granpa” or “The Frozen Dead Guy” who has taken up residence in a tuff shed where he remains in a state of “suspended animation” above the mountain of Nederland. Grandpa is frozen at a steady negative 60 degrees Fahrenheit and is awaiting the science necessary to bring him back. The story of how Bredo ended up in a tuff shed in Colorado is a bit strange. It starts in Norway, moves on to California and continues in Colorado. It involves cryonics, deportation, ice delivery, psychics and celebrations. The event has captured international attention and now is a world-renowned spectacle.