ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Christopher and Julie Rice sat naked in the sauna, sweating in its 180-degree heat. In the crisp air outside, they then played a few hands of cribbage and noshed on pickles and ...

Wisconsin’s seeing more saunas pop up, but heat bathing has been part of Upper Midwest culture for over a century. It’s largely thanks to the Finnish immigrants who settled along Lake Superior.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... “The Opposite of Cold: The Northwoods Finnish Sauna Tradition” ($34.95, University of Minnesota Press) At first blush, the act of jumping into a lake after ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. U.P. city in ‘Sauna Belt’ to begin week-long celebration of the Finnish tradition HANCOCK, Mich. (WJMN) – The upper Midwest is ...

DULUTH — By the time talk turned to the legend of the sauna elf, nothing could have surprised me. Frank Eld, dressed in the traditional dress of Finland's Pohjanmaa region, speaks at the FinnFest ...

It's a sticky, steamy business. Two or more do it naked in a small, dimly lit room. Suomi (Finland) as it is referred to in Finnish, I got a rare opportunity in April this year to visit this Nordic ...

As the cab slows to a stop, I scrape some of Jack Frost’s handiwork from the window and peer into the depths of the polar night. We’re only 15 minutes from the center of Helsinki, yet dense forest ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. – Christopher and Julie Rice sat naked in the sauna, sweating in its 180-degree heat. In the crisp air outside, they then played a few hands of cribbage and noshed on pickles and ...

Christopher and Julie Rice sat naked in the sauna, sweating in its 180-degree heat. In the crisp air outside, they then played a few hands of cribbage and noshed on pickles and smoked fish. Steam rose ...

Christopher and Julie Rice sat naked in the sauna, sweating in its 180-degree heat. In the crisp air outside, they then played a few hands of cribbage and noshed on pickles and smoked fish. Steam rose ...