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The Viking Yurt and its hosts are a combination of warm Norwegian hospitality, the rugged individualism of the Rocky Mountain West and the magical experience of The Canyons Ski Resort in the evening. Pair all those with creative, gourmet cuisine, and you have an unforgettable dining experience. The owners, Joy and Geir* Vik**, met at a University of Utah college party. Joy obtained her degree in Business, Finance. Geir was born and raised in Gol, Norway, son of a lead hydropower engineer in Norway. (also known as a “dam” builder in these parts) Geir came to the University of Utah to obtain his masters in electrical engineering. He had previously turned down a full ride scholarship to Dartmouth, upon hearing from friends that the skiing wasn’t as good in the East. He played and skied as hard as he studied, and soon met the local Utah woman who would melt his Nordic heart. Joy*** Merritt Vik grew up in Salt Lake City, a local season ski pass holder since the age of five. Her physician father worked as an on mountain ski doctor on the weekends, allowing his children tremendous access to both inbound and out-of-bound terrain on Utah’s famous slopes. The Norwegian athlete and student couldn’t help but admire this local girl’s ability to keep up with him on the downhill. Joy and Geir married after college, and returned to Norway, where Geir started an engineering consulting business and Joy learned to love the Norwegian land, its people and the language. Her job in business finance with Texaco Oil afforded her travel throughout Europe and back to the USA. After four years abroad, they both missed the bluebird sky of Utah, the light, powder snow and sun drenched days. They decided to move back to Park City, in anticipation of the birth of their first daughter, Trine, with daughter Kelsi following a few years later. Joy started a lighting consulting business plus Geir and Joy owned a software company together. After working in international software and a brief stint living in Southern California, the Vik’s returned to Park City where they decided to combine their love of throwing a great party, with business. The idea of a yurt started with a suggestion at a backyard picnic. The Canyons Ski Resort embraced the proposition of such a novel enterprise on its terrain and the yurt began to take shape. Friends and neighbors pitched in to build the deck and erect the structure. Geir loved his new outdoor office instead of spending his time on airplanes. His technical background and "can do" attitude made it fun to build the yurt, rig it with solar panels, repair the snowmobiles and the snowcat. After a few years, Geir moved on to start up another company called TechnoAlpin that sells automatic snowmaking equipment to ski resorts in North America. Joy set up The Viking Yurt from the business and marketing side, decorating, figuring out the restaurant requirements and hiring the staff. She continues to manage the business on a daily basis. Finding the perfect chef and servers is a challenge for Joy. The chef must produce incredible food but also be willing to endure no electricity and running water inside the yurt. The chef must carry the food up to Red Pine Lodge for prepping and then again to the yurt all by snowmobile. The servers must be competent to drive snowmobiles through a blizzard in the dark to fine wine service. This combination of talent, hard work, and hospitality, has culminated in the success of the Viking Yurt. In spite of the challenges in hosting, creating and preparing a pre-fixe dinner at 8000 feet, the Viking Yurt is equal to any fine dining establishment in Utah. Each night can bring unique issues for Joy and her staff that are unpredictable. This is so much more than a memorable meal. It’s a cozy sleigh ride, up the mountain slopes, wrapped in a blanket. It’s glimpsing the yurt, golden and lit from within, through the forest. It’s coming inside and warming your hands with heated Norwegian glogg in pewter cups. The party atmosphere takes over as guests mingle around the cozy wood stove, intrigued as to how a baby grand piano made it up the mountain. From the composed cheese course served on plates fashioned from local aspen, to the decadent dessert you finish every bite of, the Viking Yurt takes dining, to a whole new altitude. *Geir: Norwegian for “head of a spear” **Vik: Norwegian for “inlet”. The word Viking comes from “vik” as the Vikings made camp at the farthest tip of the fjord inlets to afford better protection from attack. ***Joy: a feeling of happiness that comes from a sense of well-being
and good fortune Phone:
435-615-YURT (9878) |
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