Toivo Sarmets, an Estonian climber and leader of the first Estonian Everest expedition, died at the age of 76 after being infected with the new coronavir, the Estonian Mountaineering Club has announced.
Sarmets died on Friday. He is mourned by his wife and three sons.
During the Soviet era, Sarmets climbed the highest peaks of five continents, two peaks higher than 8,000 meters, and four peaks higher than 7,000 meters. He was one of ten Estonians to win the Snow Leopard Award, a high-ranking award in mountaineering in the Soviet Union.
Sarmets is best known for organizing the first Estonian Everest expedition in 2003.
Six Estonian climbers went on the expedition – Toivo Sarmets, Raivo Plumers, Ivars Lai, Marguss Prooss, Boris Slepikovski and Alars Siks.
Siks became the first Estonian to conquer the world’s highest mountain Everest. The other members of the expedition failed to climb to the top.
Sarmets also organized the first Estonian mountaineering expeditions to South America and Alaska.
Sarmets was a board member of the Estonian Hiking Association and the founder and leader of the Estonian Mountaineering Club.
In 2005, Sarmet and Raivo Plumer’s memoirs “Everesti päevik” (“Everest Diary”) were published. Two documentaries have also been made about Sarmet’s expeditions.
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