«I’m a Winter Person. When it Snows, I’m as Excited as a Little Kid.»
Portrait of Arttu Heikkilä
Arttu Heikkilä has always loved winter sports. His passion took him as a skiing instructor from his home in Finland to Austria, then to Switzerland, where he is living since ten years. Arttu is a Swiss Champion in formation skiing. In IGP, he has found an employer that offers him varied work and good development opportunities.
Arttu joined the production team in 2019 on a temporary contract, and received a permanent employment contract after three months. In April 2022, he moved to production planning. “At first, it was a big change to get used to,” he recalls. “The work in production is physically tiring and I was on the move all the time. Now, in production planning, I work mainly at a desk, and my brain is challenged rather than my body. The advantage is that I’m no longer so physically fatigued after work, and I have the energy to do other things.”
What he especially likes in production planning are the cooperation, the positive atmosphere, and the open communication in the team. The employees swap areas of work every six weeks. Each of them spends six weeks either in order import, small volumes, medium/large volumes/ finishing or production planning Poland. That means everybody can support and stand in for each other, and daily work is always fresh.
From winter sports instructor to production
Arttu has lived in Switzerland for ten years. The 31-year-old originally came from Finland. After graduating from school and military service, he planned to spend a gap year in the Alps. He took a job for one season as a ski instructor in Austria. “I liked the natural surroundings and the people so much, I stayed. First in Austria, then in Switzerland. I worked a total of seven winter seasons as a full-time winter sports instructor. Outside work, I gained my Swiss Federal Diploma,“ he adds.
He met his fiancee in Arosa. They moved in together in an apartment in Nesslau. Through an employment agency, Arttu got a job as a production employee at IGP. He enjoyed the work and was happy when he was offered a permanent contract. Meanwhile, he has completed training as a process specialist and will shortly sit the final exams for his further training as company processes technician.
An absolute winter person
Arttu has retained his passion for winter sports. “I’m a winter person. When it snows, I’m as excited as a little kid. I just love winter sports,” says Arttu with sparkling eyes.
Even as a child, he loved skiing, snowboarding, and cross-country skiing. During his training as a winter sports instructor, he also learned telemark skiing and ski touring. It makes no difference to Arttu what equipment he has on his feet. The main thing is, he can glide through the snow. Whether on an icy slope or in fresh powder snow.
Swiss formation skiing champion
Arttu has won the Swiss formation skiing championship twice. This is a less well-known sport popular with ski instructors. Every year, Switzerland hosts the Swiss Snow Happening – a national championship for winter sports instructors. Every ski school enters a team of eight skiers. The challenge is to descend the mountain in a synchronized formation while performing various figures. In 2022 and 2023, Arttu and the Toggenburg team (Chäserrugg ski school) became the Swiss Champions. In 2024, they came in third – out of 57 teams. “Every year before the championship, we organize 6-7 one-day training sessions. What we aim for is perfect synchronicity and dynamics. In other words, we want to ski as a team with sporting skill and precision,” says Arttu.
Right now, in summer, there’s no snow for Arttu. Instead, he cycles and hikes. At home, Arttu loves cooking and looking after his indoor plants. Arttu and his fiancee are looking forward to their wedding in a year’s time. The venue is booked, and lots of relatives and friends from Switzerland and Finland will celebrate together. It will be a big party with live music.
It seems that Arttu has everything he wants here in Switzerland. “The only thing I miss is ice-swimming. Unfortunately, there’s nowhere to do that where we live,” says Arttu.
