Episode 2: Eric Gilbertson- What does it take to summit 140 of the world's country highpoints and complete 70 first ascents?

Eric Gilbertson lives in Seattle, WA, where he is a professor in mechanical engineering at Seattle University. He learned mountaineering skills from friends in the MIT Outing club, and climbed the US state highpoints while in grad school at MIT. He’s made over 70 first ascents, including peaks in northwest territories, Ellesmere Island, Washington and Uzbekistan. Now he’s working on climbing the highest mountain in every country in the world. In recent years he’s made it up some of the toughest ones like Pik Pobeda (Kyrgyzstan), K2 (Pakistan), Noshaq (Afghanistan), and this year Kangchenjunga (India). Sometimes the true country highpoint is unknown or unclimbed, and he brings professional survey equipment to figure it out. He’s at 140 country highpoints now with 56 left to go.   Summary: In this episode of the We Like It On Top podcast, host Bill Goodgion interviews mountaineer and surveyor Eric Gilbertson. Eric discusses his passion for climbing and surveying the highest peaks in Washington and around the world. He shares his experiences using professional survey equipment to accurately measure peak elevations and the challenges he faces in validating his results. Eric also talks about his climbing adventures in Uzbekistan and his plans for future expeditions. Despite not having sponsors, Eric has mastered the art of budget travel, allowing him to pursue his climbing goals. Takeaways: Eric Gilbertson combines his love for climbing with surveying to accurately measure peak elevations. Using professional survey equipment, Eric aims to create the most accurate list of the highest mountains in Washington. Eric's surveying results have led to the discovery of previously unknown peaks and changes to existing peak lists. Eric faces challenges in validating his surveying results and making them official. Chapters: (00:00) Introduction and Background (02:44) Surveying the Highest Peaks in Washington (05:11) Reactions to Surveying Results (08:02) Getting Started in Surveying (10:23) Validating Survey Results (11:47) Surveying Equipment (15:33) Combining Surveying with Climbing (16:30) Climbing in Uzbekistan (23:41) Climbing Alpomish and Khazrat Sultan (28:28) Difficulties and Challenges Ahead (31:40) Traveling on a Budget (34:32) Conclusion You can learn more about Eric and follow his adventures at: https://www.countryhighpoints.com To learn more about We Like It On Top, visit our website at www.welikeitontop.com