DENVER, CO – Following the discovery of three hikers’ frozen corpses on a remote mountain slope, the Coors Brewing Company announced today that it will present all three hikers with its prestigious Rocky Mountain Cold Award.

“We wanted to honor these brave individuals who experienced levels of cold only paralleled by the feeling of an ice-cold Coors Light rushing down your throat,” said Coors Brewing Company CEO Peter Swinburn.  “The award demonstrates their dedication and commitment to the quest for cold.”

The award grants a lifetime supply of Coors Light to the families of the deceased, along with a spot for the bodies of the hikers in the Coors Company’s “Freezer of the Ages.” The Freezer of the Ages currently houses artifacts ranging from frozen wooly mammoths to icy bottles of Coors Light designed to preserve history for future generations.

Previous recipients of the distinguished Rocky Mountain Cold Award include Dr. Stanley Baker, known for successfully achieving temperatures within 0.0001 K of absolute zero in a laboratory, and a Neanderthal man known as “Hans the Snowman,” famous for being found in a Swiss glacier.

“Beyond any scientific study, the Freezer of the Ages contributes enormously to the advancement of beer technology, which I think we all know is what really matters,” said Dr. Baker.

Sources within the Coors Company have revealed that the frozen remains of the hikers will be prominently featured in a new promotional campaign, along with the caption, “Coors Light: Deadly Cold.” Marketing experts have indicated that the campaign will play well among the “morbidly obsessed with gruesome accidents” demographic, males aged 15-25.

“These men were heroes, and we will forever memorialize their icy, twisted corpses as paragons of cold in a beer advertisement, said Swinburn.  “What could be more American than that?”

Relatives of the deceased hikers have expressed gratitude for the honor.

“If there’s anything I could want after my husband’s death, it is to be constantly reminded of the horrible way he died,” said Janette Wilkinson, wife of award recipient and frozen hiker Eric Wilkinson.

At press time, the Coors Company has stated that it is considering promoting the cryogenically frozen head of Walt Disney, located in the basement of its headquarters, to Vice President of Really Cold Objects and Freezer Technology.