Luke Burbank up for being next Frozen Dead Guy

Bo the IceMan readies dry ice for Bredo Morstoel (Image courtesy of Frozen Dead Guy Days)

When 97.3 KIRO FM’s Luke Burbank heard about the Frozen Dead Guy Days festival, he said he’d be down to use his body for such a cause.

“I would really like to, when I pass, donate my body to Frozen Dead Guy Days. That sounds like the most awesome afterlife you could ever have,” said Burbank.

The festival made headlines recently when the chamber of commerce in the small town of Nederland, Colorado decided to sell the rights to the festival due to its growing popularity.

The festival hosted in a town around 1,300 had outgrown the resources of its original operators in the Nederland Chamber of Commerce, but former event manager Amanda MacDonald decided to purchase the rights and take up the reins.

The festival, going into its eleventh year, has been called “Cryonics’ first Mardi Gras.” The celebration was inspired by the story of Bredo Morstoel.

Morstoel died in 1989 and was cryogenically frozen by his family. He was brought to Colorado in 1993, but circumstances ended up leaving the body untended.

“Trygve Bauge brought him to Nederland on dry ice unbeknownst to the town and he had these ideas of creating a cryogenics facility, but then he ended up being deported,” said MacDonald, in an appearance on 97.3 KIRO FM’s Ross and Burbank Show. “His mother came down to town and was like I’m worried about the body, and it was this media sensation.”

The town ended up deciding Trygve could have someone maintain the body where it rested in a Tuff Shed in the hills above Nederland.

“Basically he got grandfathered in to keep the body there,” said MacDonald. “The chamber of commerce was like, well we’re known as the town with the frozen dead guy so let’s have a festival and that’s how it began.”

“It just sounds like a great time if you’re a dead body. It sounds like, other than weekend at Bernies, the most fun you could have as a dead person,” said Burbank. “You’re chilling up there in a freezer. Every once in awhile pour a little Coors Light in when you’re putting the dry ice in, just for me – fun times.”

MacDonald said psychics say Morstoel’s spirit has communicated he’s fine with the revelry.

“We have had psychics up there that have said he’s OK with it,” said MacDonald. “Bo [The “Ice Man” that gives tours at the festival, and is paid by Trygve to keep his grandfather on ice] claims that he talks to him all the time and does feel presence.”

Dave Ross is skeptical, as people can only view the sarcophagus, and the interior contents are not viewable by the public.

“You can’t see the body?” asked Ross.

“There were a few people when the story broke who saw the body,” said MacDonald.

Even without a viewable dead body, the festival has grown to crowds around 20,000.

“The frozen dead guy gives it the absurdity,” said MacDonald.

This year’s festival will be held March 2-4.

By JAMIE GRISWOLD, MyNorthwest.com Editor