Portable Sauna on The Frozen Lake Superior
Ice Surfing & Sauna
There are days when the wetsuit is frozen solid when you walk in. It slowly starts to thaw and your body relaxes again. Even a few minutes of heat makes a massive difference. By the time you’re steaming, you’re ready to head back into the water feeling almost fresh. The cold actually feels good when you step back outside.
“It gives me the ability to recover faster and get back out there again.” — Kyler Stolp
How Sauna Became Part of the Day
“It kind of adds an event to any activity we are doing.”
Sauna was always around, but it did not always have a clear purpose. It was something you used when the opportunity came up. Over time, especially as portable saunas became easier to bring along, it started showing up everywhere. Camping trips. Hunting weekends. Days at the beach. Wherever people gathered, sauna followed.
A Dream List
Surfing Lake Superior
Lake Superior does not offer waves every day. When it does, they can be as good as anything found in the ocean. Places like Stoney Point come alive only a few times a year, which makes timing and local knowledge essential.
When conditions align, surfers show up ready. The water is cold. The effort is high. The window is short. These are not casual sessions. You go until you are empty, knowing you may only get a handful of chances all season.
Bringing Your Sauna
Experience Together
- Cool off area?
- Changing room?
- Covered Entrance?
- Shower?
- Picture view window?
- Wood fired?
- Natural Natural?
- Fully Custom?
Your Project Your Way
Why Portable Matters
When sauna is used alongside activity, where it sits matters. A portable sauna can be brought close to the water, parked nearby, or placed where the session ends. It removes the need to sit in a running truck or leave early just to warm up.
You step inside, heat up, then move on. When the day shifts, the sauna moves too. It supports the activity instead of pulling you away from it.
The natural warm and rich finish combined with the soft smooth grain of the magnolia give a perfect interior wood finish option.
The signature dragon-scale pattern of Thermory Ignite cladding is created by embossing and tinting thermally modified spruce wood. Unlike modern yakisugi, which is often created by hand with a torch, Ignite is produced using a deceptively flame-free process.
No sauna in complete without the amazing qualities of cedar. Working with long grain cedar, a higher quality, provides uninterrupted beauty with the amazing smell and long lasting quality that cedar is known for.
thermally modified ash decking provides the best natural chemical free decking that can withstand the hard climate of the Superior lakeshore while providing the natural beauty throughout the sauna interior.
Exterior
Benches
decking
Interior
Recover Faster, Stay Out Longer
An Active Way to Use Sauna
This is not about slowing down. Sauna here is used to recover faster and extend the day. It allows rare conditions to be fully used instead of cut short.
“It’s more of a way to give me the ability to recover and get back out there again.”- Kyler Stolp
Reset
/ˌrɪˈsɛt/
verb
To return the body and mind to a state where forward movement is possible again.
Story Driven Design
Dark comes early on the North Shore. The lake is unseen but never quiet. Waves carry their voice through the night while wind moves steadily along the jagged shoreline. You have already been in the water long enough for the cold to settle deep. Hands stiff. Breathing slow. The day could end here. Then the door opens. Light spills out. Fire holds steady. Steam lifts from soaked gear. The wind fades. Muscles loosen. The lake is still there, vast and relentless, but now it waits outside. This is the reset. Not an escape, but a return. A sauna on the edge of Lake Superior grounds you in the moment and brings calm into the presence of something immense.
A Masterpiece
Resonating With the Day
This sauna is not separate from the surf. It belongs beside it. Built to move, placed where effort happens, and used when the body needs it most.
Its value is not in decoration. It is in purpose. On rare days when conditions align, the heat allows the day to continue instead of ending early. A brief pause. A reset between sessions.
Active, practical, and intentional. A place to warm up, gather yourself, and step back out when the lake calls again.
Build
Bringing a portable sauna to life is a truly special time.
WE MAKE SAUNAS FOR WHERE YOU ARE
We are here for you. Let’s chat over a coffee if you’re in the Duluth area. If not, we are always available by phone to explore together what an outdoor sauna could look like for your life.
It depends on what you are searching for! If you want to rest, 15 to 30 minutes is plenty of time. If you want to cleanse and enhance your skin, 15 to 20 minutes is perfect. If you’re an athlete, resting for 15 to 20 minutes after exercise can help minimize muscular pain and improve circulation.
For more information on this issue, please see “How long to stay in a sauna.“
Factors like weight, age, and exposure duration affect calorie burn in a sauna, with a 30-minute session potentially burning 100-300 calories. Harvard Health found that infrared saunas can burn up to 1.5 calories per minute, while the American Council on Exercise estimates 50-150 calories in a hot session.
For more information on this issue, please see “Does sauna burn calories?“.
- Listen to Your Body: If you feel uncomfortable, exit the sauna! It is better to prevent than to cure.
- Stay Hydrated: Drink water before, during, and after your sauna session to replace lost fluids.
- Session Duration: Two to three sessions per week, each lasting 15 to 20 minutes, is a decent start.
- Sauna Etiquette: Shower before entering, dress lightly or with a towel for comfort, and keep talking to a minimal for a peaceful atmosphere.
For more information on this issue, please see “How long should you sit in a sauna?“.
The short answer is yes—with some restrictions. Saunas generally promote weight reduction by sweating, which allows the body to shed water weight momentarily. During a typical 30-minute sauna session, you can lose roughly 0.1 to 0.6 kg (0,22 to 1,32 pounds). However, this is primarily water weight, which will return as you rehydrate.
For more information on this issue, please see “Do saunas help you lose weight.”
Sauna bathing offers numerous health benefits, including weight control, hormonal balance, cardiovascular health benefits, musculoskeletal pain relief, muscle pain reduction, respiratory system benefits, and relaxation. It promotes a deep state of relaxation, reduces stress, and improves overall well-being.
For more information on this issue, please see “Proven Health Benefits of Sauna“
Sauna baths are safe for most healthy individuals, but precautions are needed for those with specific conditions like acute infections, heart problems, or fever. Heat exposure can affect certain drugs’ pharmacokinetics, so high blood pressure medicines should be taken before use. Also, saunas are safe for children to use under adult supervision.
For more information on this issue, please see “How long you should stay in a sauna.“
