Grin and Bear It

That Norwegian Trygve Bauge left some strange — and cold — things behind when he departed for Norway. His grandfather, Bredo Morstoel, is cryogenically frozen and stored in a Tuff Shed in Nederland, which inspired the town’s Frozen Dead Guy Days festival. Bauge also founded the Polar Bear Plunge, a chilly dip in the Boulder Reservoir, 5100 North 51st Street, on New Year’s Day. Which explains why today at 11 a.m., a mass of people — some of them garbed in outrageous costumes, some of them in bathing suits, and all of them possibly out of their minds — will leap into the ice-cold water. Some will rocket out immediately, shivering violently, while others may languish for a moment or two.

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• Trygve Bauge

Some of them will have downloaded a form from the Longmont Humane Society’s website, www.longmonthumane.org, and persuaded friends and family to pledge money toward helping animals. Those who didn’t download the form can still collect pledges and turn them in on January 15. And really, who wouldn’t pay decent money to see their loved ones jump into a cold body of water on the first day of the year? Plus, the jumpers get bragging rights and can join the Polar Bear Club, which even has its own ice-cream recipe submitted by club president Trygve Bauge. And he knows cold.
Mon., Jan. 1, 11 a.m.