YOUR AD HERE »

Truckee’s Akay improves over 2003 Oregon Winter Games performance

Staff reports

Local skier Mike Akay enjoyed some familiar success in the 2004 Winter Games of Oregon, held at Mt. Hood SkiBowl on Feb. 27-29.

On Friday, Feb. 27, while a light snow fell, Akay took second in a night Speed Trap event against 49 other competitors, averaging 69 mph.

“The Atomics felt faster (than that) to me,” wrote Akay in an e-mail response. “Although I didn’t reclaim the title (Akay was first in the event last year), I was happy with the result.”



Akay said he has been skiing on Atomic Skis most of his life, but the light snow accounted for slower than average speeds.

On Feb. 28, Akay was sixth in the Super Giant Slalom event, improving on his ninth-place finish a year ago.



Later that day, Akay competed in the Extreme Competition and took second overall, after placing third in 2003.

“I held on the East Face, an untracked and rocky tree-lined area that was designated for the event,” Akay wrote. “I loved having fresh snow for the landings, but it sure is wetter than what we’ve been getting.”

He added: “It’s a great experience to have three cool events in 24 hours. It felt great (to do well), especially after doing poorly at the X Games Qualifier at Sugar Bowl.”

Akay, who moved to Truckee from the West Shore a few years ago, describes himself as a speed skier from the 80s and 90s. He was a college racer for UCLA in the early 80s, and he was a ski instructor at Squaw Valley in the late 90s.


Support Local Journalism

 

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Lake Tahoe, Truckee, and beyond make the Sierra Sun's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news.