On March 19, 2016, the Calouste Gulbenkian Hall of the Hayartun Center at the Armenian Diocese in Georgia hosted a meeting with Levon (Lyova) Sarkisov, a legendary Georgian and Soviet mountaineer, who has climbed Mount Everest and has entered the Guinness Book of World Records. The main aim of the event was to arrange a meeting with the hero and mountaineer and to present some episodes from his life to the public in Tbilisi.

Vadim Gorelov, the Head of the Russian Federation Interests Section at the Embassy of Switzerland in Georgia, honored the meeting with his presence. Representatives of multinational society of Tbilisi were gathered together in the hall.

The initiator of the event, Michael Tadevosov, the president of the Union of Armenians of Tbilisi, presented biographical notes from the life of Levon Sarkisov. The mountaineer spent his whole life conquering the summits and nurturing the next generation of mountaineers. He has faced many struggles in his life which culminated in victory – Levon Sarkisov has climbed all 7000m peaks in the Soviet Union. The reporter, speaking about the mountaineer, emphasized that Levon Sarkisov is one of the three Armenian-mountaineers who climbed Mount Everest. By the call of his soul he raised the Armenian Tricolor and toasted with Armenian brandy at the summit of Mount Ararat. It was his unshakable belief in victory and life that helped him reach the summit together with disabled people; among them was a young man of Spitak injured in the 1988 Armenian earthquake.

Levon Sarkisov spoke about tough yet filled with the joy of victory climber’s life, thinking himself a very lucky man, who dedicated 60 years of his life to the work he loved most. The greatest conqueror of mountain summits appreciates loyalty, devotion and readiness to risk one's life for a friend above all else; those traits are best demonstrated between people connected to one mountaineering rope, where there is no differentiation by ethnicity, religion, age and social class. This is idea of real life from Levon Sarkisov’s point of view.

Movies about mountaineering, including a movie dedicated to climbing Mount Everest in 1999, where 61-year-old climber Sarkisov, the oldest man ascent Everest, achieved the Guinness world record, were shown to the people present.

Young climber Lana Adamyan and musician Artem Kirakozov wished the legendary mountaineer a long and healthy life. Poetess Marina Kirakosyan-Mosesova read her poem dedicated to Sarkisov.

Pastor of the Surb Etchmiadzin Church at the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, Rev. Father Narek Ghushyan made closing remarks. He named the mountaineer a spiritually rich and pure man, who gets close to the sky by climbing mountains, he serves as an example of strength of mind, unbroken will and how to overcome fear. The legendary mountaineer answered the questions of the audience.