Cascade Mountain Cryo partners with AppleSox as new treatment turns out to be a hit

WENATCHEE — In the heart of downtown Wenatchee, in the Morris Building, there’s a new business that provides a service you may never have heard of: Cryotherapy.

As the name implies, it’s a process that uses extreme cold — compressed CO₂ that cools an area of the body down to 39 degrees — for a variety of purposes. It can be used for pain management, injury treatment, and even for aesthetics, sculpting fat away and doing facials that don’t require chemicals.

Cascade Mountain Cryo founders Ericka Hughes and Shawn Farber were the perfect pair to bring this new form of medical treatment to the Wenatchee Valley. Hughes’ background in medicine spans veterinary, occupational therapy, women’s health and more. Farber is a sports officiant, refereeing baseball, basketball and football games, but knows his way around injuries as well, as a 23-year veteran of the Air Force.

But beyond the technical intricacies involved in cryotherapy, like “microcirculation” and what it can do to permanently remove fat cells or provide therapeutic management of chronic conditions like arthritis, the idea of bringing cryo to Wenatchee was first and foremost an act of community for these two.

“We want to connect with our community and help people. It's really important to us to be a part of the community and always has been,” says Hughes, dog barking in the background as she speaks to us by phone from her home in Malaga. She knows that people are looking for ways to improve themselves, and she’s ready to do that in a fundamental way. “I want them to leave feeling happier and feeling confident,” she says.

And one way they’ve been able to connect with the community as a new business in Wenatchee was becoming a member of the Wenatchee Chamber of Commerce. At a recent “Business After Hours” event put on by the Chamber, Ericka and Shawn ran into Nikolas Sheehan, the Director of Sales and Ballpark Operations for the Wenatchee AppleSox. As each talked about what they did at the networking event, they began what seems like a promising partnership.

After finding out that Shawn was not just a sports fan and a local officiant, but a contracting referee for both the University of Washington Huskies and the Seattle Seahawks football team, Sheehan excitedly brought up his own baseball team.

Sheehan told Ward Media, “I took the chance to tell Shawn about the AppleSox, where owner Jose Oglesby and Head Coach Mitch Darlington are always on the lookout for ways to gain a competitive edge — whether through advanced analytics for scouting or by providing better recovery options for players during our demanding 57-game season. Shawn and I both agreed that Cascade Mountain Cryo’s services could play a vital role in enhancing player recovery and performance. At the same time, this partnership could be a great way to help promote their business and offerings to the local community.”

Allie Schank, the General Manager of the team, told us “Our goal is to send AppleSox players back to their colleges and universities in even better shape than when they arrived. By incorporating cryotherapy, we're giving them every opportunity to stay fresh, recover faster, and perform at their peak. This investment in player wellness will only enhance their experience in Wenatchee and set them up for success beyond the summer.”

Ericka and Shawn have a long history in this area. Hughes was born in Wenatchee and grew up in Cashmere. Farber was born in Ephrata and grew up in Quincy, then came back to Ephrata for high school before joining the military.

In truth, Hughes says, cryotherapy came along as a kind of “rabbit-hole” fascination for her, with her medical background and her position as Office Manager of Wenatchee Midwife Service and Childbirth Center. One thing led to another, and after extensive training and a trip to Dallas to make it official, both Hughes and Farber became certified cryotherapists.

Lest you think it’s all about sports medicine, the list of things that cryotherapy can treat is pretty impressive. With just a few notable conditions that make one ineligible for cryo, such as cancer, it can be used to trim up to two inches off your waist or thighs without surgery or any downtime. It can address scars, cellulite, skin discoloration, wrinkles, acne and a host of other minor irritations. And the uses in sports medicine translate into the everyday life of people who are simply very active — runners, gym enthusiasts or just people who love to enjoy the outdoors and scenic beauty of our area.

But having just opened their doors in January, Cascade Mountain Cryo is already poised to accomplish their primary objective of helping the community. There’s nothing much more community-minded you can do as a service that offers sports medicine than partnering up with the local baseball team at the beginning of the season to give them an edge in the West Coast League.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media