The goal of Janne Orava from Helsinki is to visit all public saunas in Finland and write a book about them in the style of a Michelin guide.
Belongs a loud hiss when half a bucketful of water is thrown on an electric heater that is too big for the size of the sauna. Whip-like dry hot air hits the skin so that the body has to be pulled into a crouch and the hands put over the ears. After a while there is nothing left of the puddles.
Those who call themselves sauna heroes are the worst loonies Janne Squirrel, 46, can imagine. The name Saunasankari came about a bit by chance, when Orava and a couple of friends decided to start testing public saunas after the end of the first corona lockdown. In order to share the experiences with others, they established the Saunasankarit account on Instagram.
Since then, the t has been dropped from the word sauna heroes, when the friends have no longer had time to tour the saunas, and Orava has continued to sauna alone.
“It would be nice to have other people who are enthusiastic about saunas join us on the tour, so if someone gets excited, just message me.”
In Janne Orava’s opinion, the best thing about sauna is that there are no titles in the sauna and everyone is equal.
Although friends’ enthusiasm for saunas subsided, Orava’s enthusiasm for saunas got new rounds. He decided that he wanted to carry forward the joyous message of sauna in a more systematic way. He set himself the goal of visiting all public saunas in Finland and started posting his sauna visits on Instagram and adding them to his creations. sauna map.
Currently, about 60 public saunas that Orava has visited are marked on the sauna map. In addition, saunas for rent, hotel saunas and interesting private saunas are marked on the map.
Testing the saunas is slowed down by the fact that Orava can only visit them on weekends and holidays, because he has to go to work on weekdays. The last three vacations have been spent visiting saunas, and this summer Orava plans to go on vacation to test the public saunas in Estonia, because there is a sauna year going on there.
“Furthermore, somewhere in between you have to make it to Northern Finland, where all the public saunas have yet to be tested. Siilinjärvi has the northernmost sauna I’ve been to.”
This however, everything is just the prelude. If Orava’s wishes come true, sauna hero will become a brand in the future and everyone will know Saunasankari-Orava as a sauna tester.
“It would be great to write a Michelin guide to saunas, where saunas would be rated with stars or sauna resistances,” envisions Orava.
Then, when the sauna Michelins would become annual, Orava would start receiving sauna invitations. When a new sauna opened somewhere, he would be invited there to evaluate it. If invited, if necessary, the sauna evaluator could also go to private saunas, such as one located in Mäntyniemi.
“Yes, it would be great if you could get to Sale [presidentti Sauli Niinistö] to sauna with.”
A squirrel also wouldn’t refuse if an invitation to a sauna came to Supercell’s sauna in Jätkäsaari.
“Based on the pictures, it’s a really wonderful sauna.”
Saunasankari recommends: The tärpit of the Helsinki region
You can swim in interesting landscapes from the Villa Ivan Falin sauna for rent. The Vuosaari cargo port can be seen in the background.
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Kiulu, Otalammi beach sauna, Vihti
“As if at a cottage. The sauna has a large wood-burning heater and soft baths, but no showers. The sauna is visually great and both times I’ve been there it’s been a relaxed and conversational atmosphere.
“Finely decorated whole. The sauna has a large landscape window and a wood-burning stove, to which the trees themselves are added. Here you can also take a dip in the river. In winter, it’s challenging, though, because there is no pier or swimming ladder on the beach.”
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Sipoonjoki traditional sauna, Sipoo
“A dark basement sauna with two saunas on the terrace. Even the route to the sauna is an experience.”
“It works, that is, the whole process from booking to entering and exiting the sauna has been thought out to be smooth, so the one-hour sauna shift does not feel short. The sauna has a wood-burning heater, a large landscape window, and the sauna is only a few meters from the sea or, in winter, the open air.”
“An architecturally wonderful sauna building with a showerless loft sauna and a large landscape window. The water border is right next to it, and it’s interesting to watch the ship traffic passing by, the Swedish cruisers pass close by.”
The dream is also to have a decent sauna site with information about saunas and sauna use.
“And last weekend I got the idea for a TV show. It could be called Saunasankari saunoo.”
As a natural extension of this, the Saunasankari product family could be created, which would of course include sauna products. One of them is already under development, and it will bring a solution to the unpleasant whiplash problems.
“I have designed an innovative squirrel bathing bucket, which allows the water to flow slowly enough to the stove, so that a scorching heat wave does not occur.”
At this stage, the prototype is only being developed with the cousin, but in the future hopefully a sauna company will be involved.
For now, when better stoves or buckets are not yet on the market, lovers of gentle baths must choose a sauna place carefully. According to Orava, places to avoid are often common saunas in housing associations, which have poor ventilation, a heater that is too big in relation to the size of the sauna, and unpleasant benches.
“So far, the resident sauna in my former apartment building has been by far the worst sauna ever.”
Since the sauna is located in an old home, Orava has not been able to test whether the squirrel bathing bucket would help in such a desperate case.
“If it worked there, it would work anywhere.”
Orava’s most special sauna experience took place in the sauna of a Swedish hotel. Squirrel guesses that no one had thrown a bath in the sauna for years.
“When I came to the sauna, there was a man sitting there with a leather briefcase and reading a newspaper. Then a woman came into the sauna with a mobile phone.”
The best sauna experiences in Orava are in wood-heated saunas. The experience is crowned by a view of nature from the window and a lake next to which you can take a dip directly from the sauna.
“It’s meditative to visit such a sauna.”
Next summer, Janne Orava plans to take a sauna in Estonia’s public saunas, because Estonia is celebrating sauna year this year.
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