BOZEMAN — Bozeman’s newest cold plunge and sauna club just opened on the Northside of Bozeman, and it’s all about community.
“I feel like it’s really good for me and my stress management, honestly,” said Savannah Emge, who moved to Bozeman for graduate school.
As Emge explains, she first heard about Portal Thermaculture from her friends who go to the Boulder, Colorado location.
“I heard really good things about it; I was really excited they were coming to Bozeman,” she said.
Portal officially opened in Bozeman on March 17th. Emge says she bought an unlimited membership that she plans to use four times a week.
“It helps me manage my anxiety or my stress around school, especially,” said Emge.
“The living room inside is awesome, and my friends and I hang out in there,” she added. “I feel like I meet really cool people every time I’m here."
WATCH: Bozeman's newest sauna and cold plunge club
Emge is not the only one who sees Portal as a place for building community.
“The first thing I think gets people in the door is they read about the health benefits of the sauna, the benefits of the cold plunge,” said co-manager Dan Luckenbach. “Really what keeps people coming back is the community it forms; it’s like a third space.”
As co-managers Dan Luckenbach and Black Bair explain – beyond wood-fired saunas – Portal Bozeman features a living room, film screenings, ping-pong, yoga, and starting next weekend, a monthly vintage market.
“Where else can you spend an hour away from your phone and not feel like you’re dying to reach for it?” said Luckenbach.
“I think that a lot of our members and customers see this as, kind of, their daily escape,” said Bair.
That’s also why Bair and Luckenbach say they made the hours 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“We definitely wanted to try and cater to our, like, 9 to 5 people here in Bozeman,” said Bair.
With Portal’s other locations being in Boulder, Denver, and Minneapolis, MTN’s Esha Walia asked Luckenbach and Bair why they decided to bring it to Bozeman.
“Mountain bikers, skiers, runners, climbers, those were all, like, our bread and butter customers in Boulder,” said Luckenbach. “And we were like: Bozeman they’ve got the mountains, they’ve got the skiers.”
As for the routine of some of the customers – Emge says she usually goes into the sauna and then the cold plunge and repeats the cycle a few times. She says she is excited to see it become a space for the community.
If you’re interested in learning more about Portal Bozeman, visit this link.
