On May 12, 1999, Sarkisov became the oldest man to have ever reached the peak of Mount Everest at the age of sixty years and one hundred sixty-one days, breaking the previous record held by Venezuelan climber Ramon Balanca Suarez. He was officially recognized by the Guinness World Records as the oldest mountaineer to have ever scaled the mountain. His record was surpassed in 2001 by American mountaineer Sherman Bull.