Growing Up Around Sauna in Minnesota
We always had saunas around growing up, but when we were younger there wasn’t really a purpose behind it. We didn’t sauna every week or even that often. If someone had a sauna at their house and you were visiting, you would always jump in, but it wasn’t something that was built into everyday life yet.
That changed later on when the tent saunas started becoming more affordable. A lot more people in our group could get one, so suddenly they were everywhere. If you were camping, you brought a tent sauna. If you were hunting, you brought a tent sauna. If you were going anywhere, you brought one. It added an event to whatever you were already doing. Even if the conditions weren’t great, you could still take a sauna and reset.
Sauna brings your core temperate back up so you're ready to go back out.
I play hockey once a week for about two hours straight. It’s exhausting. A few years ago we started going to the sauna almost every time after playing. That’s when I really noticed the difference.
The next morning you’re not completely out of commission. You can actually get back to normal life a lot faster. For me that’s huge because I’m extremely active and I like endurance sports. I don’t really know how to go half speed or ease into things. I tend to go all in on whatever I’m doing.
Sauna lets me recover fast enough that I can keep doing the things I care about instead of being wiped out for a day or two afterward.
Why the heck would you surf in freezing water?
I’ve pretty much lived on a board my whole life, whether it was skateboarding or snowboarding. Surfing was only a matter of time.
When I was sixteen I went to the Washington and Oregon coast and surfed for the first time. It came naturally. I never rode a wave on my knees. I went straight to my feet. The stance and movement felt similar to snowboarding, so it clicked right away.
Later I found out people surf Lake Superior, which I didn’t even know was a thing growing up. One of the guys I worked with started surfing, so I got gear and went for it. Life got busy for a while with kids, then my brother-in-law started surfing and I jumped back in.
Stony Point is basically the place to go around here. When it’s good, it’s better than a lot of ocean waves, but it only really happens five to ten times a year. You have to pay attention to the wind and timing. If you’re not local, the odds of catching a good day are pretty low.
Duluth culture and how it's different
In surfing, it can be very competitive in a kind of “your either in or you’re not.” way. The culture in Duluth is also different than a lot of other surf spots. It’s super laid back. People are fired up just to see someone else out there. Once you can ride waves, people help each other and encourage you. It’s not competitive in the way ocean spots can be.
I like stuff that’s hard and rewarding, so that fits me well.
Using sauna to recover from the ice frozen wet suit
Surfing in cold conditions is where sauna really shines for me. If you’re down by the lake, you can get your wetsuit on inside the sauna instead of trying to change in the back seat of a truck or outside in the wind. When you come in frozen, you can melt the ice off your suit and bring your core temperature back up before heading out again.
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.
That’s how I use sauna most of the time. For me, It’s a recovery tool more than a relaxation tool. If I’m taking a sauna, I’m usually sore from doing something hard. I still enjoy it for relaxing, but it gets used the most after long or demanding days because it lets me recover faster and get back out there again.
I see two ways people use sauna. Some people use it to slow down and unplug. Others use it to reset so they can keep pushing forward. I resonate more with the second group. It’s about clearing your head, resetting your body, and giving yourself the ability to keep improving. When you step out, it’s easier to move forward again.
That’s also why mobile sauna makes so much sense for active use. If it were just for my own recovery, I’d probably put one on a trailer. You could take it cross-country skiing and park it right in the lot. You could bring it to the beach, trailheads, or wherever the day takes you. The use cases are endless.
For cold activities especially, warming your gear and your core all the way through matters. When everything is warm, you stay warm longer when you head back out. It’s not just surface warmth, it’s deep warmth that carries with you.
For me, sauna isn’t about escaping life or slowing down. It’s about recovery, performance, and being able to keep doing hard things longer and better. It helps me reset physically and mentally so I can stay active and make the most of the days that really matter.
