Frozen Dead Guy Days Recap

Well, put another one in the books.  The annual Frozen Dead Guy Days Festival concluded and might has well have been renamed the Slightly Thawed Dead Guy Days.  Festival organizers decided to bump the festival back to the second weekend in March, and might already be rethinking that decision, as it turned into quite the warm weekend.  People were walking around in shorts, tank tops, and in general, it felt like weather more for Ned Fest in summer than a late winter festival.  The planned events turned into a rather sloppy, slushy, muddy mess than the usual sliding around in the snow.  And somehow the alure of Frozen Turkey Bowling is not quite the same when there’s no snow to “bowl” on and the turkeys must be flung through the air to even make it to the bowling pins.  Even the new event, Human Foosball, didn’t seem quite as fun or funny, when people were just moving around in the dirt.  Since February seems to be the new March here in the Rockies, perhaps the event should be moved to the last weekend in February instead. 

Nevertheless, the festival seemed to be a big success, particularly on Saturday when the ever popular Coffin Races take place, my personal favorite.  Basically, team so six people, dressed in hilarious costumes, tote a person lying in an open coffin through an obstacle course in the snow.  Two years ago, it had snowed heavily on Saturday, so the event was staged on Sunday in new snow, which was the perfect set up.  Teams run over 3-foot high rollers, smack a volleyball over a net, and race through the finish line as spectators pelt them with snowballs.  For five years in a row now, a team dubbed the Pink Socks, has mastered the art of doing this in the fastest way possible.  Everyone loves an underdog, so this year, a $100 reward/bounty was put up for any team who could dethrone them.  Still no word on whether they prevailed…

One thing that seems to be true is that the locals stay away.  While we appreciate the PR and the economic boost Dead Guy Days brings, we don’t relish the lack of parking at the local post office or the traffic on the local roads.  As I walked around talking with various people, I didn’t find one person who actually lived in Nederland other than those associated with the festival.  I did meet a lot of people from other parts of the Front Range, and even a couple of guys hailing from St. Louis and Iowa who actually happened upon Dead Guy Days by happy accident.  They were visiting friends in Longmont and just wanted to see the mountains up close, so had come up to Nederland.

I’ve enclosed a clip and some photos to give those of you who still haven’t sampled Dead Guy Days a taste of what is probably the whackiest festival this side of the Mississippi.  Mark your calendars for next year…