Not sure if you remember me, but I was part of the same RMI climb as you in July...my name's Greg, I was the tall 19-year old with dark hair and glasses, and I was on JJ's rope on summit day (I made it, Rainier was #6 for me).. Im a fellow highpointer as well though I wasn't at the convention...just wanted to thank you for taking the time to write this sport and I wanted to comment on a few things...
"Naturally we were disappointed but for the most part our spirits remained high and we regarded this as a positive experience in which we learned a great deal about ourselves, mountaineering in general and what we need to do to improve our chances of success on any future attempts at summitting Mt. Rainier"
I'm glad you took a positive attitude despite things not quite turning out how you hoped...I've been there myself and know exactly how you feel...my first try on Rainier was in 2000 when I was 15 years old and like you, I only made it to the first break after leaving Camp Muir then, because I was stumbling all over the place on the rocky parts before that break... but as soon as I got down safely, I knew that I would be heading back to finish the job...
"The main emphasis and concern with the RMI guides seems to be safety. Some people think that they are too quick to remove clients from the class or the climb, but after listening to them, and observing them, it is obvious to me that they only remove people if those people are safety concerns and may jeopardize themselves or the entire group."
Definitely...RMI does an excellent job of running these trips (they've been at it for something like almost 40 years I think), and so they've got every "dotted i and t crossed" as the saying goes...in both my trips to Rainier there was never one time where I felt my safety was the least bit compromised, and I have the guides to thank for that...
"Our second guide was Jeff “JJ“ Justman. He has also climbed many other mountains including Mt. Everest and he completed his 100th climb of Mt. Rainier with my group. I would have liked to been with him at the summit."
In regards to JJ's 100th summit up there, it was fairly anticlimatic, though I can tell you from firsthand experience that later that night in Ashford, he had quite a little celebration there (he had a few days off after this climb)...
"On the hike up to Camp Muir our group witnessed a spectacular avalanche as we watched the ice fall off one of the glaciers during the heat of the afternoon."
I remember that as well, without a doubt the most amazing/spectacular thing Ive ever seen...
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