Fitness studio, with 2 saunas and a cold plunge, opens this weekend in Baker City
Published 12:25 pm Thursday, August 28, 2025
Austin Weatherby helps people hone their muscles but he knows that sometimes the heaviest burden is mental rather than physical.
“I battle the same thing,” Weatherby said on Thursday, Aug. 28, the day before the grand opening of MNT Fit, his fitness studio in Baker City.
“Your mind will try to find every excuse not to work out,” he said. “That’s where I come in.”
Although Weatherby is a personal trainer who helps people finetune a fitness regimen — and stay with it on days when life intrudes — his membership-based business at 2010 Third St. offers a variety of options for clients.
Customers who don’t need a personal trainer can buy a monthly membership for the studio.
For $35 per month, they can use the weights and other equipment as well as his two saunas — a traditional steam unit and one with infrared light — and a cold plunge.
The $25 monthly membership includes access to the saunas and the cold plunge, and for $20 a month customers can use the weights.
The saunas are also open for $5 per visit.
Weatherby’s personal training clients get a free full membership.
All visits are by appointment. Customers can book time at the studio online at mntfit.com/ or through an app that’s available on the website.
MNT Fit’s grand opening will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 29, and Saturday, Aug. 30. In addition to weights, the two saunas and the cold plunge, Weatherby has a selection of supplements for sale and a wellness bar where customers can have a smoothie as they recover from a workout.
The studio’s hours to start will be Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday’s from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
MNT Fit will be closed Sundays.
“I need a day,” Weatherby, 30, said with a laugh.
In addition to opening a new business, he’s an assistant coach for the Baker High School football team.
What’s in a name?
The M stands for “mission,” the N for “navigate” and the T for “teamwork.”
Weatherby, grew up in the Tri-Cities, Washington, and moved to Baker City in October 2023, said he wanted a three-word name for his studio that reflects his approach to fitness.
“Everyone has a mission,” he said. “My job as a trainer is to help them navigate that mission. And then we do it together.”
Weatherby said he started working as a personal trainer in Couer d’Alene, Idaho, about three years ago.
Soon after moving to Baker City he started as the sports director for the Baker County YMCA, a job he kept until this June when he found the rental space on Third Street, just south of Broadway.
Weatherby said he became interested in fitness when he was in high school, playing multiple sports.
After graduating he came to realize that his passion was “helping people achieve their goals with exercise and to get healthier.”
Weatherby said many of his clients are either older adults striving to lose weight and get stronger, or youth athletes who want to improve their performance on the field or the court.
He encourages potential clients to schedule a 30-minute meeting during which he will talk with them about their experiences and their goals.
“The drive for me is helping people succeed,” Weatherby said.
He understands that for most people it’s much easier to start an exercise plan than to continue it through the inevitable travails of career and family.
“We all start with a high level of motivation,” he said. “My job is to continue to push them when things get hard.”
Although Weatherby is starting his business in a relatively small space, with about 1,000 square feet, he would like to expand into a much larger building.
For the time being, though, he hopes the intimacy of his studio will attract people who prefer not to work out in a larger gym with a couple dozen people nearby.
Weatherby hopes he can fill a local niche by offering the cold plunge — a pool of icy water where people can recover after a workout.
Even though he admits, with a grin, that that plunge can be a bit unpleasant at first.
“You do it because your body will thank you,” he said.