PARKCITYLIFE / Faces
JULIE MINAHAN
GEARING UP THE NEXT GENERATION / BY TONY GILL
MATT BAYDALA
PHOTOS BY ADAM FINKLE
FLYING FISH / BY TONY GILL
When Matt Baydala moved from New York to Park City in 2004, it didn’t take long for him to realize he didn’t want to work in an office. Baydala quickly exited the real estate business and started working as a server at a Main Street sushi shop. “I just wanted to work a couple nights a week and live the lifestyle. Partway through my first season it was clear I wasn’t going back,” he explains. Baydala moved up to become general manager before taking over as the restaurant’s owner three years ago and changing the name to Yuki Yama Sushi. “I wanted the business to be successful, and I also wanted it to be a great place for people who live the ski lifestyle,” Baydala says. “We have an incredible staff. Nobody comes in and is miserable, and if it’s snowing we’re all skiing in the morning.” Along with his business partner, Executive Chef Kirk Terashima, Baydala has turned Yuki Yama Sushi into an award-winning restaurant, ranked number one overall on TripAdvisor for Park City. And though Yuki Yama is landlocked thousands of miles from the coast, Baydala insists you needn’t worry about the freshness of what you’re eating. “My friends used to bust my chops about it, but I tell them planes fly really fast. You can hop on a plane from LA and be here in a couple hours. It’s the same for the fish.” In his spare time Baydala works as a blogger for Ski Utah—a job he got after winning the Ski Utah Ultimate Powder Hound Contest. “I get to share what I’m passionate about with tons of other people. I’m always out skiing and shooting videos and photos with my friends anyway, so it’s a pretty great gig.” 586 Main Street, PC, 435-649-6293
Julie Minahan has been the head honcho at Park City’s Young Riders program for five years, but she has been helping people get into the outdoors for a long time. Minahan is from upstate New York— where she grew up ski racing and generally living the classic outdoor enthusiast lifestyle—and she moved to Park City to work for the National Ability Center in 1997 before getting involved with Young Riders over ten years ago. “We needed more women as role models to help get more girls into the sport,” Minahan says. Young Riders started in 1996 as a municipal kids camp and has grown steadily to include more than 300 participants and 50 coaches. “In the beginning there was nothing for the kids who ski-raced to do in the summer and Young Riders was started as a way to get them out in the off season,” Minahan explains. “It’s not just training for the kids, though. We get them outside exploring the environment, teach them trail etiquette and help them build friendships with others in the community.” Young Riders offers a couple of options for people who want to get involved: once-a-week programs that run for 10 weeks throughout the summer, or weeklong camps, which are great for visitors to Park City and locals. “We always have three coaches for every 10 kids to ensure everyone is safe and gets the attention they need,” says Minahan. “And we have programs for everyone. We start Pee Wee at age five, ride along the bike paths and learn about the bike, and we go all the way up to our Adventure level where kids ride up to the top of PCMR and ride the Wasatch Crest Trail.” Young Riders is a non-profit with fees starting at $150 for the weeklong camps and $300 for the once-a-week program. They have one fundraiser each year, the bike swap at The Yard on May 7 and 8. youngriders.com, 435-640-8642
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