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At the 13th European Sauna Marathon navigated team On an icy and snowy afternoon, clock in for three minutes in 18 different saunas. At this year’s event in early February, I took off my swimsuit, sweated in the steam, and joined the team as they jumped into a hole in the ice and completed the circuit in record time.
One of the contest categories is the best sauna experience.Voting by participants The heat, the atmosphere, the music, the snacks and the novelty. One of the options was a converted streetcar car that vibrated to techno beats and had a fire pit and hot tub in the front.This year’s winner was Sauna in the Sky with its wood-burning stove An industrial crane lifted them 50 feet into the air as each team sweated inside.
After entering the sauna On the ground, a charming Estonian cowboy handed out ice-cold root beer as a farewell greeting.
Most saunas are run by local enthusiasts, friendly families, and businesses that offer pre-sauna beer and grilled meat, or vodka and pickles. One of them was a hobbit house whose roof had slipped off due to snow, turning it into a hole in the ice. The other ship was later shipped to Ukraine as part of relief efforts.
Unique but sauna-appropriate clothing is important. Think lots of spandex, mirror ball helmets, and capes. The U.S. military team wore green camouflage shirts and matching face paint. Many teams wore traditional felt sauna hats.
Each team is given a map and an electronic tracker, and everyone has three minutes to spend honestly. Part of the race is orienteering, as part of the location is in Torva, 45 km away. Our team’s navigator and van driver use navigation against phone instructions while rushing through the snow-covered forest. More than 50% of Estonia is forest.
As I turned down the road to find my next stop, I saw a man standing in the snow wearing a swimsuit and water shoes. We parked near a small brown trailer with steam billowing out on the edge of a frozen lake surrounded by covered evergreens. Cross-country skiers breezed past.
At the end of the pier, marathon runners were dropping into holes cut into the 8-inch-thick ice.
It feels less like a marathon and more like a festival celebrating all things sauna. The Finnish team arrived by ferry from Helsinki. When asked why he went abroad for the marathon, the Finnish competitor said: We’re not here to win today. we’re just having fun. ”
The reigning Estonian champion confirmed that he has a strategy to be the first to complete the entire circuit.
“We are strictly adhering to the three-minute time limit, but the competition is fierce,” said Vir Us, a member of the Estonian team.
Applications for this year sold out within two hours. Entry limit is 200 teams. However, organizers say they have 40 locations available for teams from abroad to experience Estonian sauna culture.
George P. Kent, the U.S. ambassador to Estonia, was also competing on a joint team with the Norwegian ambassador. They eagerly donned horned felt sauna hats embroidered with the flags of both countries, and between steams wore regal blue robes. They went to all the saunas, but Kent’s preference was the beekeeper’s sauna with the ice hole.
“They were giving away their honey,” Kent said. “We have bees. We have a hive in Tallinn.”
Like most Estonians, he has a sauna at home and uses it several times a week.
The national culture of sauna
Finland has exported its sauna lifestyle, but just across the Baltic Sea, Estonia’s tradition is just as strong. The range ranges from igloos, electric saunas, raft saunas, infrared saunas, wood saunas and traditional smoke his saunas, to name a few.
Originating as a bathing ritual, the sauna has played a variety of roles in culture. Soon, in northern climates, it kept the population alive. It provided not only warmth but also a sterile environment for giving birth and caring for the sick. Weddings and family milestones are celebrated in the sauna, with young children crawling at the bottom and parents and grandparents sitting on benches where the temperature is higher.
Estonians intuitively understood the health and wellness benefits long before the current established medical evidence was established. You don’t need to be in multiple saunas, but it can help with the outside noise. It gives people peace. And when you see these different aging bodies, nudity becomes the norm.
To experience a traditional smoke sauna that dates back to before there was electricity, you need to go to southern Estonia, close to the Russian border. Thanks to efforts led by Eda Veroja, UNESCO has protected the smoke sauna tradition as intangible heritage.
Veeroja preserves local knowledge, such as how to make and use birch whisks known as vih. Now in her 60s, her family’s farm was returned to her in 1994 after the Soviet Union left. She has since turned it into her authentic guided smoke sauna experience.She and her husband are preparing a smoke sauna for 8 days time. There is no chimney, so the smoke is trapped and the heat lasts for hours. This was the traditional approach used to heat, pasteurize, and even smoke meat.
For a taste of Baltic tradition without going to the Baltic States, watch the arthouse film Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, which recently won at Sundance and the European Film Awards. Estonian director Anna Hint was inspired by growing up in the smoke sauna tradition watching women share their thoughts and make peace with their lives and bodies. It took seven years to make this film.
Tartu is a great southern base to explore Estonia’s sauna experience.
The university is centered around the University of Tartu, which was founded by the Swedes in 1632 before the Russian occupation, when the quality of life for Estonian peasants was rapidly declining. Like other towns in Estonia, Tartu is clean and digitally advanced. For example, Estonia’s population of over 1.3 million people has the option of voting online.
As European Capital of Culture in 2024, there will be a year-long program exploring the ‘art of survival’ through heritage, cuisine and music. This includes an event in May called Kiss Tartu, which will be an unprecedented mass communal kiss. The Pyhäjärve Beach Gourmet festival, held in September, spotlights local chefs who specialize in local fish, game and foraged mushrooms.
While in Tartu, delve into history at the Estonian National Museum and Aparaditejas, a former Soviet refrigerator and secret submarine factory turned cultural center. Catch an opera at the historic Teatro Vanel Muine (his April production of “Turandot” starts at about $45).
Lunch at the classic retro cafe “Werner” is popular with locals. If you prefer fine dining, make a reservation at the Michelin-recommended Hõlm. If you love the antique charm of the Baltic Sea, stay at the Antonius Hotel in the city centre. The hotel has been renovated and features historic ornaments throughout, including a type of ceiling-high ceramic fireplace built in St. Petersburg and sold throughout the former Soviet Union.
Lisa Lucas is a travel and lifestyle writer based in London. Follow her on her X @Lisa_A_Lucas and instagram @lisa_a_lucas.
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