It is never a good idea to pause between a 194-degree sauna and the mind-bending frigidity of Lake Superior in February. As sweat cools on skin, the rational mind kicks in. Why submit the body to such unrelenting shock, it asks. I know this voice well. Yet here I am, on a cobblestone beach in Grand Marais, Minn., with precious heat steaming off my head, pausing to contemplate the wave-sculpted ice that appears to be growing toward the sky like stalagmites.
By the time the lapping waves hit my calves, my feet are already numb. The air temperature is 30 degrees Fahrenheit, a heat wave for February. So, I take the plunge, submerging myself into the 34-degree water long enough to feel the full-body electric tingle before hurrying back to the warm embrace of Sisu + Löyly Nordic Sauna (its Finnish name translates to “Grit +Steam”). With a red exterior and a dramatic perch on a jagged rock ledge above the lake, this 90-minute, $86 private experience makes me feel like I’ve been transported to a spa on the Baltic Sea.
Back in the sauna I ladle water onto the electric stove, which is a pile of rocks in a wire basket, and wait for the löyly to wash over me, relaxing every muscle. As I take in the bruised sky above a slate-gray winter lake, framed like a painting by the picture window, I realize that if I’m going to make it through this 750-mile-long, sauna-hopping road-trip, I’m going to need to drink more water.
The sauna boom
The culture of sauna — the only commonly used Finnish word in the English language — is exploding in the United States. The U.S. sauna market is projected to grow to $526 million by 2028, up from $390 million in 2023, according to the market research firm Technavio.
