As winter’s harshest temperatures arrive, Minnesotans find health and connection in traditional Finnish rituals. (AP Video: Mark Van Cleef)
Sauna enthusiasts Geoff Tate, Emily Scribner-O’Prey, Darcy Sudderth, Mickey Mosman and Igor Rudenko spent 75 minutes in a Saunable mobile sauna at Mount Lebanon Regional Park in Eagan, Minn., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
Jeff Tate of Hastings, Minn., cools off after a swim in a Saunable mobile sauna at Mount Lebanon Regional Park in Eagan, Minn., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Van Cleef)
Jeff Tate of Hastings, Minn., relaxes in a Saunable mobile sauna at Mount Lebanon Regional Park in Eagan, Minn., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Van Cleef)
Mickey Mosman, Emily Scribner-O’Prey and Darcy Sudderth cool off outside a Saunable mobile sauna at Mount Lebanon Regional Park in Eagan, Minn., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Van Cleef)
As winter’s harshest temperatures arrive, Minnesotans find health and connection in traditional Finnish rituals. (AP Video: Mark Van Cleef)
Sauna enthusiasts Geoff Tate, Emily Scribner-O’Prey, Darcy Sudderth, Mickey Mosman and Igor Rudenko spent 75 minutes in a Saunable mobile sauna at Mount Lebanon Regional Park in Eagan, Minn., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
Sauna enthusiasts Geoff Tate, Emily Scribner-O’Prey, Darcy Sudderth, Mickey Mosman and Igor Rudenko spent 75 minutes in a Saunable mobile sauna at Mount Lebanon Regional Park in Eagan, Minn., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
Jeff Tate of Hastings, Minn., cools off after a swim in a Saunable mobile sauna at Mount Lebanon Regional Park in Eagan, Minn., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Van Cleef)
Jeff Tate of Hastings, Minn., cools off after a swim in a Saunable mobile sauna at Mount Lebanon Regional Park in Eagan, Minn., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Van Cleef)
Jeff Tate of Hastings, Minn., relaxes in a Saunable mobile sauna at Mount Lebanon Regional Park in Eagan, Minn., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Van Cleef)
Jeff Tate of Hastings, Minn., relaxes in a Saunable mobile sauna at Mount Lebanon Regional Park in Eagan, Minn., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Van Cleef)
Mickey Mosman, Emily Scribner-O’Prey and Darcy Sudderth cool off outside a Saunable mobile sauna at Mount Lebanon Regional Park in Eagan, Minn., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Van Cleef)
Mickey Mosman, Emily Scribner-O’Prey and Darcy Sudderth cool off outside a Saunable mobile sauna at Mount Lebanon Regional Park in Eagan, Minn., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Van Cleef)
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — As Minnesota heads into another cold winter and temperatures dip into the 10s, people like Ed Kranz are embracing the cold — and working up a sweat.
Kranz and his wife, Colleen, are among those Minnesotans who believe the best way to spend the winter is to warm up in a sauna and cool off in the state’s frigid weather.
On a cold Sunday morning, they set up a portable wood-fired sauna with the help of their company, Saunable, near a frozen lake in the Minneapolis suburb of Eagan. After sweating in the 85-degree Celsius (185-degree Fahrenheit) sauna for about 10 minutes, they went outside to 15-degree Celsius (59-degree Fahrenheit) to walk around the fire in their bathing suits and repeat the process three or four more times. One daredevil even jumped into a hole in the frozen lake and took a cold shower after the sauna.
This hot-cold experience is common in Minnesota, where many residents embrace sauna culture for warmth and a sense of belonging. Sauna enthusiasts say they combine an ancient tradition with a trendy online community, building social connections in a community that can feel isolated.
Glenn Auerbach, a self-proclaimed sauna enthusiast and the founder and editor of SaunaTimes, says saunas and cold-water immersion go together like peanut butter and jelly. Auerbach founded the site in 2008 to share his thoughts, research, and conversations with leading figures in the sauna world. He and his interviewees discuss the ins and outs of sauna construction, how to create a “good sauna environment,” and the potential health benefits of sauna use.
The typical temperature for the sauna’s holy trinity (heat, steam, and ventilation) is around 180–200 degrees Fahrenheit (82–93 degrees Celsius), which is a stark contrast to Minnesota’s cold winter weather.
The most experienced people in the sauna world can build a sauna for as little as $10,000, Auerbach says. Those who don’t want to put in the physical effort can outsource the construction work. Saunas have seen a surge in popularity since the coronavirus pandemic, which enthusiasts say has prompted manufacturers to sell them for $30,000 to $40,000.
Auerbach noted that while saunas have grown in cultural significance in recent years, the practice began long before the Instagrammable saunas of today.
Ever since Justin Juntunen first stepped into his family’s sauna as a child, the smell of cedar wood has been etched in his memory. Juntunen, the founder of Cedar and Stone Nordic Sauna, is a descendant of Finnish immigrants who came to the United States in the 1880s. They brought with them their love of saunas and the community values ​​that steam baths bring to local life.
Jontunin said Finns say they have more saunas than cars. Immigrants like his grandfather, who came to Minnesota to work in mines, factories or on the docks, often saved up to build a farmhouse. But first they would build a sauna and live in it while the house was being built. Later, the sauna became an informal hub for the town.
Jontunen said that people socialize in saunas, give birth in saunas and die in saunas. He added that the communal nature of saunas reflects the egalitarian spirit that is deeply rooted in Scandinavian culture and sauna culture in general.
“It’s actually a tradition that everyone should follow,” Jontunen said. “My favorite Scandinavian proverb is that all people are created equal, but nowhere is that more evident than in the sauna.”
Sauna enthusiasts say that in addition to people’s desire to visit a sauna in person following the outbreak of the new coronavirus, their interest has also increased after some internet celebrities, such as podcasters Joe Rogan and Andrew Huberman, began actively promoting saunas.
“Every major podcaster in the world discovered that jumping into cold water felt good. And then people clicked on it online,” Juntunen said.
He added that there is a paradoxical contradiction between technology and sauna culture. Digital media has contributed to the development of sauna culture, and at the same time, saunas are seen as a refuge from the pervasive intrusion of technology into all aspects of everyday life.
Despite this, almost all adherents of sauna culture claim that its emergence is inseparable from the desire for communication.
Those who worked in the sauna hosted friends, neighbors, even teammates from their high school hockey team. This created a new form of contagion after COVID: “The heat is contagious,” Auerbach said.
This core function of sauna culture spans generations. Juntunen’s grandfather would rush to the sauna after work because it was a place for storytelling.
“It’s a place to tell a story, to connect, or to be silent,” Jontunen said. “I think it’s a very beautiful example of a sauna.”