If you love cold plunging, we’ve got great news for you. There’s a new immersive sauna and ice bath experience coming to Vancouver’s Cambie Village this fall that you’ll want to mark your calendars for. In addition to offering both guided and self-guided cold and hot cycling sessions, Kolm Kontrast will soon be home to Vancouver’s largest sauna, which will seat up to 50 people!

Entirely community-based (no private sessions), Kolm is dedicated to providing guests from around the city a comfortable dip into Vancouver’s wellness scene – no pun intended.

Guided & self-guided sessions

The studio uses a science-based approach to its programming, offering self-guided and guided sessions typically 75 minutes in length, with three different focus areas to choose from: “Relax,” which focuses on regulating the nervous system, “Recover,” which dives into advanced breathwork and self-massage, and “Reconnect,” which fosters self-regulation and emotional resilience.

All sessions blend together Western ideologies of psychology and neuroscience with Eastern practices such as meditation, breathwork, visualization, somatics, and bodywork.

First-time tips

For those just starting out, founding member Landon Goold recommends booking a self-guided session. In an email with Curiocity, he explains that this is to give guests the opportunity to go through the hot and cold cycling with the option of receiving 1:1 attention from one of the guides nearby.

Meanwhile, guided classes are perfect for those looking for an experience more akin to a yoga or fitness class.

Regardless of which session you choose – make sure to arrive hydrated and inform a guide that it’s your first time!

Hot and cold cycling

According to Goold, cold plunge tubs all range in temperature from 0 to 3 degrees Celcius – so guests are highly encouraged to try and push themselves to plunge for at least two minutes.

Typically, the experience starts with 15 to 20 minutes in the sauna to warm up, followed by two minutes (or as close as you can get!) in an ice bath, followed by five to 10 minutes in the tea lounge.

This process can have a number of health benefits, including improved circulation, reduced inflammation, an immune system boost, and reduced stress.

The hot and cold cycle can be repeated as many times as you’d like during the length of your session, so Goold says, “embrace the discomfort and expect to pleasantly surprise yourself!”

Kolm Kontrast vancouver british columbia
Rendering via Kolm Kontrast

After Hours sessions

Looking for a fun sober night out? Kolm will offer late-night ‘After Hours’ sessions on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights (9 pm to 11 pm) upon opening.

Goold shares that these sessions are the perfect alternative to a night out with no less excitement or opportunities to socialize. During the late-night sessions, guests can enjoy an extended duration of 120 minutes, low lighting, and bumpin’ music.

Whether you go solo or with friends, these sessions are a great way to trade your hangover for the natural ‘high’ of cold plunging, and meet new people in the process.

Goold also shares that Kolm is looking at doing special occasions with live DJs, so stay tuned for more details on that to come!

Prefer to go into the experience totally silent? There are special Silent Self-Guided sessions available as well.

Opening & info

While Kolm has not yet released its schedule, you can take advantage of the studio’s founding offers, which include 15% off class credit packages.

This means that single classes currently start at $46 per person, and packs of five sessions start at $205.

Kolm is set to officially open its doors to cold plunge enthusiasts and newcomers alike this fall in early December.

The facilities include a 50-person sauna, four ice baths, and a tea lounge, serving unlimited tea and alkaline water. Kolm will also feature full-service change rooms equipped with private shower stalls.

Upon opening, Kolm will be open seven days a week.

So there you have it, cold plungers! Stay tuned for more info as it comes.

Kolm Kontrast 

Where: #101- 525 W 8th Avenue

Isabelle Vauclair

Staff Writer, Vancouver – Isabelle is a West Coast native with an appreciation for Vancouver’s natural landscape, patio scene, and community spaces. She loves to discover new hidden gems in her neighbourhood and share them with readers across the city.

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