Posted on 08/07/2010 1:58:50 PM PDT by Gamecock
The annual World Sauna Championships in Finland has ended in tragedy with the death of one of the finalists, the organisers said.
Russian finalist Vladimir Ladyzhensky and Finnish rival Timo Kaukonen were both taken to hospital after collapsing and Mr Ladyzhensky later died.
Its chief organiser, Ossi Arvela, said all the rules of the event had been followed.
He said in a statement that the organisers were grief stricken at the events.
The event, which has been running since 1999, requires participants to withstand 110C for as long as possible.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Finns in this country usually use cedar branches instead of birch. Native birches aren't as aromatic as European birches.
It is definitely worth the trip! Finland is a bit off the beaten path for American tourism, and the Finnish standard for hospitality is extremely high. I enjoyed my recent summer trip, but winter in Finland is beautiful as well, and you can take advantage of the winter sports and see the Northern Lights at that time of year. If you go, be sure to sample some of the local fare. I find reindeer meat especially tasty, and I can’t get enough of their strong, salty black licorice, called “salmiakki”.
During my tour in Germany, I spent some time at a German base near Kiel (Todendorf). Nearby was a clothing optional beach. First time I went, I was hesitant to disrobe, which my date found laughable.
I got over my reticence when I saw a middle-aged man who was about 5'8" and 350 lbs.
My usual workout routine ends with 20-25 minutes in the sauna. I'm not sure how hot it gets in there, but it's nowhere near 110 C. Maybe 150-160 at the most. At my age, it helps ward off muscle soreness the next morning.
A friend did a semester in Finland last year. She found that the apartments had saunas and tenants were given sauna times so they could have the sauna to themselves/their family.
My late husband was Finnish-Swedish from the UP of Michigan and loved saunas. Once we lived in a place that had a wall heater in the bathroom; he’d use it as a makeshift sauna. One day he cranked it up and brought in our 6 yr old son so they could have a sauna experience. The boy passed out. We were young and thought the kid was sick and took him to the hospital. The sauna was such a part of my husband’s life, it didn’t occur to him to put 2+2 together and that the heat might be too much for a kid.
It has to be Fahrenheit. One-ten Centigrade is way above boiling point.
Not at all. I often visit a sauna that has a low humidity 110-115 °C. 10 to 15 minutes is OK. Air has a very low thermal conductivity. Heat up your oven to that temperature and stick your hand in it. No problem (without direct radiation from the heating elements!). Don't try it with water (high thermal conductivity) at that (hypothetical - above boiling) temperature though!!!
That contest was pretty stupid, and against what I'd consider 'sauna culture'.
The competition was held in Heinola, 138km (86 miles) north of Helsinki.
...so we know the exact distance from Helsinki, but they don't say HOW LONG they were in there or at what relative humidity!!! Just how stupid is that? (Answers self: About par for the BBC)
Another link on that article page states six minutes, which can only mean that they must've poured a lot of water on the rocks - very high humidity. Which is NOT something you'd want in that temperature range.
An exerpt from Rick Reilly's book about extreme sports and he tried this one out..... excerpt follows. Read more at the link.
Now do it for 10 minutes or more, and that's what it's like to compete in quite possibly the world's dumbest sport: the Sauna World Championships.
I know. I entered.
End snip
We all know that 100 deg C is the boiling point for water, and is equal to 212 deg F. So 230 deg F (110C) is beyond scalding water. How do these people keep from being steamed like a lobster?
No, I think it’s 110C. If it were 110F they would have held the event down here in South Texas in my back yard.
August 1 was really hot in Houston, it got my attention.
How do these people keep from being steamed like a lobster?
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They do get burnt, blistered etc.... Read the article I linked just above your post.... It gives an interesting first person account of the event and what it’s like.
Same as for the "Friedrichsbad" Spa in Baden-Baden. I went with someone who was not nearly as hard to look at as myself.
≤}B^)
But they're not in the water, they're in air of that temperature, which transfers the heat, unsurvivable in the long term, into their bodies very much more slowly than if immersed in water.
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Not at all. I often visit a sauna that has a low humidity 110-115 °C. 10 to 15 minutes is OK. Air has a very low thermal conductivity.
During the Apollo program, a NASA experiment was shown on TV in which a military volunteer sat in a large oven as the temperature was increased to the point where he could no longer stand it and was instantly removed.
My recollection, which I think is accurate, is that the stated air temperature at the time he was removed had reached 600 °F.
Besides the low thermal conductivity of the air, the cooling effect of sweat can apparently protect one from quite high temperatures for short periods.
600 °F is amazing! Thanks for that little anecdote. I wonder at what point the hot air would hurt/damage the respiratory system? That’s probably the short-term limiting factor. I know how it’s hard to breathe for a short while when going into a hot steam bath. It hits your lungs and just chokes you.
The volunteer had to stop breathing through his nose at a much lower temperature than the final value. The experiment proceeded quite rapidly so he didn't have to be exposed to the highest heat for that long.
I know how it’s hard to breathe for a short while when going into a hot steam bath. It hits your lungs and just chokes you.
In a low humidity situation the evaporation of moisture lining the airway would have a cooling effect for a short time. Plus the thermal conductivity and heat capacity of "steam" would be much higher.
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