Snow Room vs. Cold Plunge: What’s the Difference?
Cold plunges and contrast therapy have become incredibly popular over the last few years. Ice baths are everywhere, and for many people, a cold plunge is the first thing they picture when they hear the words “cold therapy.”
At Cleopatra’s Rituals, we chose something a little different for our thermal spa, a real falling-snow room.
Our snow room is kept at approximately -10°C, with snow falling continuously inside. And because it’s still quite unusual to find a snow room in Canada, we get asked all the time:
What’s the difference between a snow room and a cold plunge?
Quite a bit, actually.
How Does a Cold Plunge Work?
A cold plunge or ice bath involves submerging your body in very cold water, often somewhere between 4–15°C.
The cold is immediate. Because your body is surrounded by cold water, it can feel quite intense very quickly. For some people, that intensity is exactly what they love about cold plunging.
For others, it’s the reason they’ve never tried it.
You can be interested in contrast therapy and still have absolutely no desire to lower yourself into a tub of freezing water.
That was something we thought about when creating our own Thermal Ritual.
How Does a Snow Room Work?
A snow room gives you a completely different cold experience.
Rather than submerging your body in cold water, you step into a room filled with cold air and falling snow. At Cleopatra’s Rituals, guests typically enter the snow room after spending time in our cedar sauna or eucalyptus steam room.
The contrast is immediate, but the way you experience it is much more gradual.
You can simply stand in the cold air, walk around the room, sit for a moment or pick up the snow and gently rub it onto your arms or legs.
Some guests stay for a very short time. Others discover they absolutely love it and stay longer than they expected.
And every once in a while we open the door and discover someone has built a tiny snowman.
Snow Room vs. Cold Plunge: The Biggest Difference
The biggest difference between a snow room and a cold plunge is how your body experiences the cold.
With a cold plunge, cold water surrounds the body immediately, creating a much more intense sensation.
In a snow room, your body is surrounded by cold air instead. You can move through the experience at your own pace and choose whether you want direct contact with the snow.
Neither one is necessarily better.
They’re simply very different forms of cold exposure, and the experience you prefer will depend on what feels good to you.
Why I Chose Snow Instead of a Cold Plunge
The idea for our snow room actually came before I knew something like it even existed.
I love contrast therapy, but I’ve never loved cold plunges. The shock of freezing water just doesn’t feel good in my body or for my nervous system. But I’m also very sensory and dopamine-oriented, and I kept thinking, why does the cold part have to be something we just endure?
And somewhere in that thought, I imagined snow.
What if you could step out of the sauna and walk into winter? Feel the cold gradually, touch the snow, put it on your skin, play with it, and stay for however long feels good.
I hadn’t seen anything like it around me, but when I started researching, I discovered that snow rooms actually existed in European thermal spaces. I knew immediately I wanted to bring that experience here.
It’s still one of my favourite parts of Cleopatra’s Rituals. For me, wellness doesn’t have to be the hardest or most extreme version to be valuable. I wanted to create something our bodies actually want to come back to.
That’s what makes it a ritual.
— Azaria
What Is a Thermal Ritual?
At our Kelowna spa, the snow room isn't meant to be experienced on its own.
It's part of our Thermal Ritual, where guests move between our cedar sauna, eucalyptus steam room, thermal showers and falling-snow room, with time to rest between rounds.
You might move from sauna to snow, rest, try the steam room, cool down again and then decide what your body wants next.
There isn't one perfect order.
That freedom is part of the ritual.
Should You Try a Snow Room or a Cold Plunge?
If you already love cold plunges and ice baths, a snow room will probably feel gentler. You may enjoy experiencing cold in an entirely different way.
If you've been curious about contrast therapy but haven't been able to convince yourself to climb into an ice bath, the snow room may feel much more approachable.
And if you've never tried either?
Start where you're comfortable.
Wellness doesn't need to be an endurance test.
Our falling-snow room is part of the Thermal Ritual at Cleopatra’s Rituals in Kelowna, BC.
Come experience what -10°C and falling snow feels like after a cedar sauna.
