The winter here in Minnesota has been pretty much non existent. Yet the theory of relativity exists, meaning that we do have at least a few inches of ice on our lakes right now, enough to ponder-ificate between rounds.
Public Sauna of the Month
We have the SaunaTimes public sauna map to help you navigate your sauna journey. And this month, correspondent Tom presents the entire Minneapolis St. Paul public saunas as this month’s collective feature. Let’s check in with Tom here.
Sauna in the news
Tom’s article joins Ernesto’s New York Times feature as well as Kelly Smith’s Star Tribune article which all share a spirit of how “the pandemic turbocharged the state’s sauna industry as many Minnesotans built home saunas during the lockdown phase and later, starved for human connection, flocked to communal bathing gatherings.”
Sauna benches
Are you ready for new sauna benches? Partaking on a new build? Here are a couple real world tips for when finding and affording long clear boards is a challenge. Click here:
Product Review
I plan to report on other sauna makers, quality heritage companies like Nippa and Ilo up in Northern Michigan. Along the Iron Range in Northeast Minnesota sits Tower, Minnesota (pop. 424), home to Lamppa Manufacturing, maker of the Kuuma sauna stove.
Daryl Lamppa, retired only on paper, has been studying wood combustion his whole life. He has spent the past few years developing and testing the new Kuuma BlueFlame wood burning sauna stove. Daryl is considered by many an expert in the field. I’m pleased to present my BlueFlame review here.
More songs about ventilation
Another lifelong professional dedicated to their craft, I’d like to present Malcom, a 45 year engineer. Fully retired, this past year, Malcom has spent the better part of his waking hours on his sauna bench, studying how air moves in his sauna. He compares his empirical work with the 36 page Finnish study on ventilation published in 1992, and shares some interesting findings here.
The Rolando Protocol
has been refined through five decades of dose dependent peer reviewed double blind random controlled integrated sauna action from the rocky shores of Northern Minnesota, USA. For more jargon that basically suggests “go sauna” check out the protocol here.
Help Wanted: Sauna Life coffee table book
We are seeking an ambitious, well organized part timer to help sift through and categorize over 250 submissions for our new book Sauna Life: From Heat Up to Cool Down. Our Ideal candidate gets jazzed up reviewing photos of peoples’ saunas and their stories and words of sauna wisdom. They’d also be comfy with either InDesign, Blurb BookWright, Canva or other software tool to help with layout. More about the book here.
If you or someone you know may be interested, please hit reply to this newsletter. We’d love to hear from you!
Customer wanted: Shed to sauna conversion
Are you ready for your own custom backyard sauna? I am looking for a candidate ready for a “DIY Light” sauna project. Semi build your own super quality, consciously optimized heat, steam, ventilated sauna with fewer tools and several fewer dollars than an annual wage. Click here to learn more.
Can't wait to sit on my favorite bench in Northern Minnesota. Looking forward to your newest Sauna Book.