September 15, 2018 - Two saunameisters faced off at the rooftop sauna "preseason steam" at the Hewing Hotel this past Friday night. Being asked to be a judge for this Aufguss session between a German (Alex ) and American (John Peterson) is akin to being asked to judge a French poetry reading between, say, Serge Gainsburg and Snoop Dogg. As with the German (Alex ) there is just something about the pronunciation of phrases like: "in zee moment" and "let go of zee stress" that is, well, frankly, more resonating than his American competitor. JP, living up to American stereotypes of optimism and exuberance, prepped us for his aufguss session by having us gather around his clipboard, pre sauna, like a Texas football team, where he walked us through his three round Aufguss playbook. "Here's what we're gonna do.." The two approaches Both began their aufguss sessions with a bit of talk, then repeated rounds of water on the sauna rocks with towel waving and flapping (to … [Read more...]
Mobile sauna at Fortune Bay Casino will be bringing the warmth to Northeastern Minnesota
Fortune Bay Resort and Casino sits along the shores of Lake Vermilion, arguably, and most agreeably, one of the top 10 most beautiful lakes in the Continental United States. Interestingly, the area is also home to many Finnish and Scandinavian immigrants. Nearby Embarrass, MN, as example is home to many native Finlanders, even to this day. The combination of great Nature and sauna cultural heritage is a great nesting ground for this exciting mobile sauna project. "We anticipate the sauna as being able to open up lots of exciting things for our guests" says Garrett Lamppa, Director of Hospitality at Fortune Bay. And Garrett knows plenty about AUTHENTIC sauna. In addition to his duties at Fortune Bay, Garrett is a 4th generation sauna stove maker. His Great Grandfather emigrated from Finland to the United States and began building sauna stoves a century ago for friends, neighbors, and family members within a 20 minute drive of Garrett's office. The pillars to this … [Read more...]
Ice fish house manufacturer transitions his business to building mobile saunas
Minneapolis, MN, July 24 2018 Maybe it started back in 2015, when Saunatimes visited Eric Bongard, founder of Custom Cottages. Always impressed with DIY manufacturing, we are even more impressed with folks who produce quality from the ground up. Fast forward to today, and we find Eric immersed in the production of quality mobile saunas. Key features of Eric's saunas include longevity of the unit light weight, all welded and glued, never fail, nothing to pull loose, no fasteners to fail, rock solid frame, epoxy to hold to the studs 1000 psi per inch pull off strength to the substrate siding to Studs. Everything is built in a jig to ensure perfection and squareness in each unit. More photos to follow. The AUTHENTIC sauna cat is finally out of the bag. "We have two sold and are building 3 more. I anticipate selling 20 of these by the end of the year." … [Read more...]
A floating sauna (flauna) ready for crisp cool lake plunges three steps out the hot room door
Flauna [flaw-nuh]: noun, plural faunas, faunae 1. An individual's possessions strewn about for others to see in order to impress. 2. A sauna constructed on a floating structure such as a barge or pontoon boat to allow for immediate water access between sauna rounds. 70% of sauna enthusiasts take no part in definition #1, but 100% of us have great appreciation for this recently constructed floating sauna here in Minnesota, USA. "I wanted my sauna super friendly for my kids, and the whole family" explains Josh Howe, creator and visionary behind his "flauna", floating sauna. "The lake at our cabin is a cold, spring fed lake. I knew that building my sauna close to the lake would be a good thing, but building it ON the lake will allow us to sauna anytime we want, and bring the sauna around to other parts of the lake and sauna there too." Here we see Josh and his "flauna" project just two days after final construction: Josh's father in law played a key part in the … [Read more...]
Who will be the first band to trailer a mobile sauna on tour for optimal post concert R&R?
It's not far fetched. Bands on tour finish their encore sweaty and spent. The loud crowd, lights, action make for overstimulation and craziness in the head. Artists find their own way to "chill out" after a performance and we can think of no better way than a sauna session. How cool would it be to exit the green room after a gig, walk a few steps outside and into an awaiting AUTHENTIC sauna idling at 180f? And on off nights, the sauna can be deployed in a strategically located garden on the road, perhaps all misty wet with rain. A traveling sauna on tour isn't just a good idea. A sauna with a band on tour will expand the horizon of wellness, bursting through the monotony and stale hotel room air. If I were a band on tour I would (in order): Sleep on the tour bus. Wake up in new town and hit a sauna round or two. Do the radio in studio performance or other PR. Sound check. Bike around town. Preform the Concert. Enjoy 3 Sauna rounds Repeat. And … [Read more...]
You can “go big” with your urban backyard sauna sanctuary
Its a garage, it's an office, it's a sauna, it's a lounge. It is incremental real estate. It is 16 steps out the back door, and it offers an "up north backyard retreat." No getting into the car. It's right there when you want it. It is legal to build. It cost money to build but we only have to pay for it once. We use it forever. … [Read more...]
Why Lake Superior is the #1 sauna lake in the Continental US
It's a bold statement because almost ANY lake is a #1 sauna lake. There is nothing like stepping out after a sauna round, when "the idea of a cold lake plunge is about the best idea you've ever heard." But Lake Superior offers the sauna bather an additional edge, especially most of the time from about December to April: open water. It's crazy to think that a guy can jump into ice cold fresh clear open water on April 3, 2018 when at that same moment, EVERY inland lake within 300 miles has many feet of ice on it. Avanto is awesome. Not needing a hole in the ice is that much better. Nature is a crazy and wonderful thing. … [Read more...]
Teenager saunas: “they absolutely love it, but they lose patience pretty fast”
For many of us, sauna has been a family experience. In my case, our 18 year old son has been taking saunas his whole life. We (still) have a plastic dish pan that he would sit in as a baby. He would splash around, down low, along the hot room floor. He was too young to walk or talk but he loved being part of the sauna party with his older brother of four years and his friends. Fast forward 18 years, and our son is back from college for Winter Break. His "old crew" is back together. They bundle up and journey from house to house. As we are hit with an extra sub zero cold snap, the boys have been hitting our backyard sauna with regularity. They leave a trail. I first noticed our rapidly declining wood pile, then towels strewn about, extra socks here and there. The frat house vibe has taken over our backyard sauna. Our son's friends have not grown up with sauna. Yet, they have adopted our backyard sauna with great enthusiasm. They laugh at the cold, steam billowing … [Read more...]
Sauna Talk: Managing Partner of Wisdom Woods tells us what it’s like to run a first class private resort
In this episode of Sauna Talk, we get a behind the scenes view of Wisdom Woods, Spooner Wisconsin, from Managing Partner Nate Focht. "Sitting on the sauna bench, everything that comes out of your mind is pure." - Nate Focht, Managing Partner, Wisdom Woods. Ever wondered what a $100,000 sauna building looks like? Well, how about we add another zero to that number and double it. That's what we experience while taking a sauna at Wisdom Woods. The hot room is symmetric and generously sized 12'x12.' Thankfully, we made the ceiling 7' such that the wood burning stove can do its job heating the sauna to good temperatures. Transom windows to the South and West plus a full glass door give the hot room a light airy, spacious feel. The "money seat" is in the middle of the West wall, whereupon the sauna bather can gaze through the full glass door, past the full size exterior window in the hallway straight out to the lake: a generous, wide view. This treatment is example of … [Read more...]
“come sauna if you wanna” is an invitation with no commitments
Often times, at lake cabins and cottages, life takes on a different pace. Time is something that happens, but is not populated on an Outlook calendar. Commitments are full of caveats. "if you've got nothing going on, come on over for dinner tomorrow." "if you're up for it, let's go for an island hike." and the poetic: "come sauna if you wanna" Come sauna if you wanna. Sauna's work no matter who shows up. Yes, you can text me the temp, or just come sauna if you wanna. This is how it is and how it should be. … [Read more...]