Born to a Turkish immigrant father and American-born mother, Giray grew up in Bristol, New York, where “there wasn’t much do but ski.” Thanks to a natural aptitude and strong parental support, he and his brother Ahmet quickly went pro and spent the early 2000s making names for themselves on the freeskiing scene at events like the Freeskier Jibfest and the Vermont Open, as well as appearing in films like 2003’s “IHNY” and 2004’s “Bogart.”

Then, in 2013, Giray broke his back and pelvis. He recovered, but competing for cash in hischosen sport was no longer a safe option. “That was a major shift,” he says. “Everything became about, how can I keep skiing another day? How can I keep skiing the main focus of my life?”

One of Giray’s main sponsors was LINE Skis. When the company’s founder, Jason Levinthal, left to form J skis, the rehabilitating skier asked to join him, with the understanding that he could no longer seriously compete. Levinthal welcomed him anyway. “Jason’s expectations were that I take care of myself and do whatever I wanted with my skiing.”

Giray pivoted into backcountry skiing so that his body wouldn’t have to endure the hard landings consistent with competing in ski parks. He also completed a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Utah and started his own company, Daymaker Touring, where he created an adapter that converts downhill skis and bindings into an alpine touring system for accessing the backcountry.

Balancing this entrepreneurialism with a strong sense of sponsor loyalty, Giray also took over engineering at J skis. “Jason knew I could handle my own timelines and take that pressure off of him,” he explains. “He also knew that I knew the brand inside out far better than anyone else that he could bring on.”
That said, Giray doesn’t consider himself an engineer as much as a shaper. “When you’re shaping, you’re thinking about what can be done on the ski and how you’re supposed to turn and what tricks you can do. When you’re shaping skis, you’re shaping the buyer, you’re shaping the culture of the sport.”

Apparently, balancing pro skiing, shaping, and running a business doesn’t quite fill Giray’s plate, so he’s also a filmmaker, from the camcorder footage of his youth to his latest project with director Hennie van Jaarveld, “Of the Black Sea.” In the film, Giray travels to his father’s homeland Türkiye, where he introduces his Turkish family to his American wife Alexa and searches for camaraderie amongst the backcountry skiers of Ovit Mountain. Not only is “Of the Black Sea” a professional achievement, it’s had personal ramifications. “The story of being lost between cultures and that being a major struggle of my
life is true,” he says. “Making this film and the overall adventure that occurred has definitely helped me own that more. It’s help me find out what it can mean to be Turkish.”