Aku Aspila

Free the heels. Free the spirit.

Pushing telemark skiing into steep and technical alpine terrain

Based in Chamonix & Finland

About

I'm a Finnish telemark skier, alpinist and climber, based between Chamonix and Finland.

My focus is taking telemark skiing where it rarely goes: steep, technical alpine terrain. Alongside skiing I climb alpine routes, ice and mixed. I'm working toward the UIAGM/IFMGA mountain guide qualification, with the goal of becoming Finland's first telemark mountain guide.

Off the mountain I'm a timber researcher. I'm completing my doctorate at Tampere University on steel–timber hybrid structures, and I teach timber structures and structural mechanics. Understanding loads, materials and failure is part of how I read terrain and gear.

My roots are on Aspilan tila, our family farm in Pälkäne, Finland, which I run with my two brothers. Seasons, patience and hard work came from there long before the Alps.

Research

FARM

Reviews

First week at Cham… at HOME ❤️🙏🏼 Such a wonderful place full of love and support. What else could you hope for? Well the winter might arrive sooner 😄 #chamonix #phdlife #mountains #climbing #training

Two very productive days at the University of Luxembourg! 🇱🇺 Great discussions on steel–timber composite structures, experimental testing, ongoing research and the development of the first Eurocode for steel–timber composite structures, which we are currently working on. A big thanks to Professor Christoph Odenbreit and his research team for two inspiring days. The university’s impressive new research facilities were definitely a highlight! Now it’s time to head towards Chamonix and back to the mountains! 🇫🇷🏔️ Well, that was the plan at least… Keijo had other ideas 😅🚐 Hopefully back on the road soon! #UniversityOfLuxembourg #Timber #Engineering #Research #phd-life

Change the game #telemark Don't let the game change YOU! Let's see how much I can push the telemark during the upcoming season. Lots of thoughts and lots of preparation. Luckily, still 2 months to prep before the season starts. #freetheheels #skiing #pow #chamonix

Onion harvest is done for the 2026 season! 🧅🚜 It definitely wasn’t the easiest season. Rainy weather and more than a few machinery problems kept us busy, but luckily we still managed to get the storage full! Now the work continues with sorting, packing and delivering onions through the winter. Let’s see what the next season brings as the food market and global supply chains keep changing. Choosing local and Finnish food really matters. Every bag of Finnish onions helps farms like ours keep going into the next season. 🙏🇫🇮 #onionharvest #familyfarm #farming #finnishfood #maatila

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! It has been quite busy lately😅 Luckily, the harvesting season will be finished soon. AND the skiing season is starting🔥 #phd #tampere #university #farming #skiing

Harvesting season at full swing🤘🧑‍🌾🚜 aaand next day rain☂️😅 #farmi #familyfarm #harvesting #maatila #nofarmersnofood @aspilan_tila

SOOONNN!!!🔥🤘 #freetheheel #freethespirit #telemark #skiing #chamonix

Work hard play hard But remember why you play for the first place to keep the grind going!💪 Winter is approaching and it means skiing and ice climbing. We have adjusted the training to fit more in on these but still keeping long-term focus on climbing performance. Super happy for the coaching that @samulilepola from @boulderkeskus has been providing over a year🙏 For an extremely busy farmer/research/teacher/… having a clear plan to just go and execute is 🔥 This has been the single biggest improvement for my personal training routines in many years. And also realising that you can do a LOT by having a just hangboard, rings, and a few getlerballs. #Climbing #skiing #training #lattice #freetheheel

Hopefully I won't need these skills, but better to have them if shit happens. Big thanks to @sukellusnoste for the practical course. #firstresponders #skiing #climbing #shithappens #beready

Start of the new season 🧅🚜 15.08.26 First 100 t of onions lifted, and hopefully we can start deliveries to grocery stores in about two weeks. The start looks good, which is promising for the next two lifting rounds 💪 For the next couple of months, the mountains will have to wait while the focus shifts back to farm life, training and pushing the research forward. ASPILAN TILA 🌱 @aspilan_tila Pälkäne, Finland 🇫🇮 Family farm run by three brothers Main crops: onions, sugar beet, peas and cereals #familyfarm #finnishfarm #onionharvest #farmlife #harvestseason