Barbara Yamada

From officiating at collegiate, national, international, and Olympic/Paralympic Winter Games competitions, to helping preserve the area’s rich history of winter sports, to conducting clinics and certifying race officials, to masterfully administering ski clubs and ski associations — the name Barbara Yamada was always at the forefront. 

A native of Pocatello, Idaho, her journey through numerous winter sport domains included being a Junior and Senior B racer, ski instructor, ski coach, certified referee, and Executive Director of the Intermountain Division-USSA.

Her voluminous volunteer resume includes being a charter member of the Alf Engen Ski Museum Foundation Board and of the University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library’s Ski Archives Advisory Board, where she served as chair of its annual Ski Affair.    

Yamada’s down-to-business work ethos expanded well beyond winter sports. The University of Utah Athletic Department, the Adopt-a-Native-Elder Program for the Navajo Nation, and the Park City Institute are among the beneficiaries of her tireless offerings.