Apetor was a Norwegian YouTuber and Industrial Worker, who was known widely for creating extreme content, and performing wild and adventurous stunts during the winter – while he drank vodka – and then uploading them onto his YouTube channel.
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Age, Early Life, and Education Background
Apetor was born Tor Eckhoff under the Sagittarius zodiac sign on 22 November 1964, in Kristiansund, Norway; he passed away on 27 November 2021 aged 57-years-old. His family relocated to Sandefjord, Norway when he was six years old, and he spent the rest of his childhood there, brought up together with his brother in a Christian household. The names of his parents aren’t known.
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Tor went to a local school for his primary education, before he joined Sandefjord High School, and later enrolled at the University of Bergen to study Nordic Literature, Philosophy, and History, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1993.
Facts and Interests
Apetor was fascinated by evolutionary biology, especially the relationship between apes and humans.
Although he was always seen sipping Vikingfjord Vodka in most of his YouTube videos, he clarified that he had no connection with the brand, that he wasn’t promoting it.
He was an athletic person, and was a regular participant in the Holmestrand Marathon.
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On 9 March 2019, Eckhoff was diagnosed with terminal rectal cancer, and his doctors alerted him that it had spread swiftly – he went for surgery in mid-2019. Before his diagnosis, he had been suffering from inflammatory bowel disease, but neither of these ailments killed him.
Eckhoff had a tendency of assuring his fans that he was alive, every year on his birthday. A few days before he died, he shared a video of himself with the digits ‘57’ inscribed on his forehead, sipping vodka; it was entitled, “I Am Not Dead, I Am 57 Today.”
The YouTuber was also a car fanatic, and his favorite models were the Volvo 142 and 240 series.
Image source
YouTube Career
Tor began his YouTube career on 10 October 2006, and uploaded his first video “In My Boat” the next day. He named his channel Apetor, comprising the words ‘ape’ and ‘tor’, and used it to share videos of his trips, posting footage of scenic views and wildlife. He came into the limelight in 2011, after he uploaded the video “On Thin Sea Ice 2,” which featured him diving into a sea covered with thick ice sheets, drinking vodka, and ice skating, which attracted millions of views within a week.
His video was so well-received that he subsequently founded the company Apetor Film – March 2011 – which he hoped to use to produce TV programs, videos and films.
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Shortly afterwards, he uploaded a follow-up video “On Thin Sea Ice 3,” in which he is seen during winter. swimming towards a ferry to purchase alcohol. Shortly afterwards, he posted his fourth video, which featured him cutting through ice using a chainsaw before he dunked his head into it and dived under. He made 13 “On Thin Sea Ice” videos, which were all widely viewed.
Apetor’s most popular video was “The First Snow 4,” which was part of his “First Snow ” series and attracted 94 million views – it featured him drinking vodka while submerged in a frozen bathtub. He continued making similar videos, some of which featured him using a chainsaw to skate across ice. In 2019, he partnered with the Norwegian YouTuber, Jonas Lihaug Fredriksen who runs the channel NRK 4 ETG, to make a video together swimming in wintery conditions.
Tor achieved international recognition with the largest percentage of his viewers from Russia, Poland, and the United States – clips of his videos aired on major American and Norwegian TV channels, such as TV 2, G4, and CBS in 2011. Despite his popularity, many criticized his stunts, comparing them to playing Russian Roulette – Discovery Channel analysts commented that taking alcohol in such extreme weather put his life at risk. However, he brushed off the comments, reassuring his fans that ‘Many regard falling through ice as life-threatening, but if you know what you’re doing and have ice claws, then it is usually fine.’ He added, smiling, ‘I shouldn’t be co*cky, I could very well die out here someday.’ Apetor’s YouTube channel had around 1.3 million subscribers in 2021.
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Aptor featured in the Harald Zwart-directed Norwegian comedy movie “Lange flate ballær III” in 2021. In addition, he was an employee of a paint firm that was run by Jotun Chemical Factory.
Personal Life
Tor was married to Tove Skjerven, and they welcomed a son named Johannes together. He had kept hidden personal details including how they met, and when they exchanged vows.
Height, Weight, and Physical Appearance
Apetor was of white ethnicity and had blue eyes and gray hair. He was 5ft 11ins (1.80m) tall and weighed around 165lbs (75kgs).
Net Worth
Tor had made a name for himself with his bizarre yet entertaining content, and had garnered millions of YouTube subscribers. He had accumulated his net worth mainly from his YouTube career, and also as an industrial worker – according to sources, he was worth approximately $600,000 at the time of his death.
Death
Tor Eckhoff passed away in Oslo University Hospital following an accident that had happened the day before while he was shooting a video. He had gone ice skating on the frozen Jacobs Dam, situated in Kongsberg, Norway, when he plunged through the thin ice and was unable to swim out of the water.
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He was rescued by some divers and was rushed to the nearby hospital through an air ambulance. Unfortunately, he couldn’t recover, which saw his life support turned off. Many fans commented on his last YouTube video expressing their sympathy to his family.
His wife and son were present in the hospital moments before he passed away; she shared the sad news of his death on her Facebook page. In an Interview with the Norwegian newspaper, Verdens Gang, Tove expressed her pain saying, ‘We miss him terribly much, and it is a loss that will never let go. He has been everything to me and to our son.’
