As temperatures turn frigid, Minnesotans turn to saunas for warmth and community

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — As another frigid winter settles over Minnesota with temperatures dipping into the teens, people like Ed Kranz are embracing the cold — and working up quite a sweat.

Kranz and his wife, Colleen, are among Minnesotans who believe the best way to endure winter is to heat up in saunas and then cool off in their state's icy weather.

On a bone-chilling Sunday morning, they set up a mobile wood-fired sauna from their business, Saunable, near a frozen lake in the Minneapolis suburb of Eagan. After about 10 minutes of sweating in the 185 degrees Fahrenheit (85 degrees Celsius) sauna they moseyed outside into the 15-degree temperatures, lingering around a fire in bathing suits before repeating the process three or four more times. One brave soul dipped into a hole in the frozen lake for a post-sauna cold plunge.

Their hot-and-cold venture is common in Minnesota, where plenty of residents embrace sauna culture for warmth and community. Devotees say they are mingling Old World traditions with newfangled internet-based communities, and making social connections in a society that can feel isolating.