This winter in Upstate New York was especially brutal, with constant below freezing temps and many sub- zero nights, so we’ve been firing up our sauna as much as possible. The uptick in saunas and sauna culture keeps us very busy. We’ve been enjoying listening to neuroscientists and other medical professionals talk highly about saunas as they distill the information to Americans about all the health benefits. For others who are just beginning their journey, diving deep into sauna building, or sauna culture, it might seem hard to navigate all of the information out there and not be distracted by the entertainment aspects found in big public saunas, or strict guidelines on how-to sauna web pages.
To us, taking sauna or sauna bath is our everyday medicine and reward for working hard.
For both of us, sauna has been a commonplace activity for a long time, so we don’t pay too much attention to all the newly appointed experts, but just listen to our bodies. We were lucky to have experiences early on in life at more traditional saunas and banyas in Upstate New York. Rob grew up going to Podunk Nordic Ski center in Trumansburg, NY and Scarlet at a more banya-style finnish-sauna at Williams Lake in Rosendale, NY both of which were Nordic ski centers and communities founded by Scandinavians.
A Perfect Sauna
Last week we are took a break from all of it by doing a Nordic ski Vacation at Lapland Lake— a wonderful family oriented Nordic skiing center in the lower Adirondacks where incredible amounts of snow are still on the ground in March.
These days there is a lot of internet banter about obtaining “perfection” when building a sauna and often dogmatic rules pertaining to bench heights, ventilation, wood selection and so on. I also see frequent reference to a quote that says the only good sauna is a Finnish (made in Finland) sauna and that all saunas made in the US are bad or worse. Mostly I to try ignore it all and stay focused on continuing to build quality saunas here at our shop in Ithaca, NY. >> Read more about Lapland Lake and Olavi, a Canadian born Finn with alot of Sisu in a new blog post “>>A Perfect Sauna”>>
Sunshine Delivered on A Gray Day
We had a fun time with this successful sauna delivery; thanks to our friend Scott of Ithaca Urban Timber Salvage. Neighbors stood by as we carefully delivered this beauty to their backyard down a very narrow driveway. This local client shares a home gym with his neighbors so in-turn he will share this sauna with them. He says his family and neighbors are as excited as he is to have access to a sauna. Yet another example of how sauna builds community. Each delivery widens our circle of not just customers, but friends.
“That sauna is the best thing to happen since the invention of the grilled cheese sandwich.
Everyone is using it every day!”
Floating Sauna “KOS” in Saratoga Springs
We just met up with Kate from KOS sauna to see and try her new beautiful public floating sauna with the only oversized Harvia 50 wood-fired Kiuas we know of in the US. We shared the benches with about 15 people; a feel-good fun and social time was had by all. Saratoga Springs is a great location to launch her business because the area has been infused with a history of hydrotherapy. We compared notes on the challenges of a building a floating sauna since we had previously completed a sauna boat for a client in 2024 (aka #Saunatoon). With weather and waterways to navigate, the challenges of a floating sauna are very real and the stakes are high so we wish anyone pursuing this increasingly popular form of sauna lots of luck!
Leaving your mark
The basic instinct of leaving your mark connects humans across time. One of the things I’ll tell if you ever have a chance to help me install tongue and groove cedar, pine or other wood, is: wash your hands! Learn about craftsmanship and other tricks of the trade, especially when working with expensive material like cedar in saunas and natural wood ceilings in homes. >>Read the blog post about “Leaving your Mark”>>
Sauna Guests on National Sauna Week
For National Sauna Week this year, the Finger Lake Finns hosted guest speaker Garrett Conover, writer of the self-published book, “Sauna Magic – Health Happiness & Community” . Afterwards, we had the lovely opportunity to have him and one of his oldest friends, Josh, from Alaska, over to our house for sauna and chowder. They shared stories of life in the deep woods and the role of sauna in surviving real cold. His book is beautifully executed and perfect for anyone who wants a deep dive in the traditional sauna culture and basics on how-to sauna. He even has a section on making ice candles! We will certainly bring the book to our shop for our visitors and sauna building classmates to read.
One thing that can keep those winter blues away is sharing warmth in good company.
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