Guest post series continues. Duluth, Minnesota is to North American Sauna as North Shore Hawaii is to surfing. And for good reason, Duluth, and Thunder Bay Ontario to the North, is home to many Finnish immigrants, attracted to the familiar chilly climate and mighty Lake Superior much like moths to nighttime camp fires. Lake Superior is briskly chilly year round, so the ice cold lake is perhaps the most intensely awesome cold plunge lake in the continental US. Yes, a bold statement, but once you stand on a rock ledge along Superior's shore, steam billowing after a sauna round, looking into the crystal clear water below, then plunging faithfully into the crisp, clear, clean water, taking it right to your bones, then working your way … [Read more...]
Looking for a winter sauna getaway? Here are five Upper Midwest US resorts that offer a “bold north” authentic sauna escape
As winter chill settles in upon us and with Christmas and New Year holidays just around the corner, many are considering alternative gift giving with more thought than just one click on Amazon and with less misery than navigating down the packed hallways at the Mall of America shopping center. Many us, millennials and otherwise, are attracted to the gift of an experience, more than things. A gift of being able to create a warm memory, of checking out from our busy lives, while recharging, resetting, rejuvenating, surrounded by Nature. What better way of sharing our warm love, then by giving the gift of a couple nights stay at a soulful resort with an authentic sauna, ever present everywhere? Before we commit to next year's … [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...]
A video tour of a kick ass wood burning sauna along the shores of Lake Superior
Whether sitting in your cube at work, or maybe sitting in seat 13c on flight 324 to O'hare, this 2 minute video may help one chill out in anticipation of their next authentic sauna session. … [Read more...]
The Spirit of Lake Superior surfing
In this beautifully produced video from Prana Lens, we are treated to the Spirit of Superior Surf. Included therein is Singularity and the Fibonocci Principle, where we find parallelism within sauna building through Divine Proportion. "The worse the weather, the better the wave." And in our case, The worse the weather, the better the sauna." Mental fortitude of Lake Superior surfing. Agreed, When you surrender, you win. Find me a Lake Superior surfer who isn't into sauna, and I'll find you a tech entrepreneur who has never used the term disruption. Bonus: Stoney Point, Lake Superior: excellent Wim Hof training ground. Superior Surf from Ali Rogers (PranaLens.com) on Vimeo. … [Read more...]
Finding a sauna oasis takes time and persistence: Larsmont Cottages revisited.
Guest post series continues. Welcome Matt, who has followed Saunatimes lead with a follow up post to this one here from Christofer's visit to Larsmont Cottages, Two Harbors, MN. Enter Matt: My wife and I chose the Larsmont due to their location, on the North shore of Lake Superior, but especially because of Larsmont Cottage's wood fired sauna. We celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary (July) a little early due to the busy summer in front of us. In need of some time to relax and recharge, this was just the place! We utilized many of Larsmont's amenities during our visit. Friday was room-service from the Ledge Rock Grille, the Tia Flat bread was a surprise hit! Saturday night's Chef Dinner with wine pairing was a big … [Read more...]
Seeking Superior: a quest to cool off in a very cold lake
Guest post series continues, thanks to Christopher, an authentic sauna adventurist. Enter Christopher: Our family is not Finnish, so we are new to the whole authentic sauna thing. We experienced our first wood-fired, multiple session, sauna a few months ago — and we loved it! Since then, we’ve visited a few more Finnish-style saunas in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and have been reading, learning, and geeking-out about the whole thing. We’ve even created a “bucket-list” of sauna experiences we’d like to have. One of the items on our bucket list is to cool off after sauna in a cold, clean lake. And there is no colder, cleaner lake than Superior. So we started looking for saunas on the shores of Superior, which is in the heart of the sauna belt. … [Read more...]
A sauna build along Scenic Highway 61, revisited
Conventional buildings are often functional boredom. Houses and office buildings get lost in conventionality: pure function. Example: When viewed from the street, many new houses show a big ass garage door. Pull in the driveway and reach for the garage door opener. Welcome home! trudge, trudge. Office buildings greet visitors with a functional, typical set of double doors "come on in, we'll take 20 years off your life, starting right now." Sauna buildings are dripping with beauty and coziness. Sauna buildings are health and wellness retreats. Smaller in scale, ones nICE mug, water bottle, sauna towel are always in sight, only a step or two away. Sauna buildings complement the environment. Sauna buildings sit quietly amongst … [Read more...]
It’s time to come out of the sauna closet.
With sauna sometimes its not the stove, its not the benches, its not how much water you toss on the rocks. Sometimes it's that magical moment between sauna rounds when you look around and can actually feel what heaven must be like: http://youtu.be/3kNrc_VYQVk … [Read more...]