Topping Mount Rainier is just another day at work for J.J. Justman, a mountain guide from Bend.

Still, his recent accomplishment of 200 summits on the 14,410-foot volcano in Washington is something he savors.

“I definitely will be climbing it a lot more,” said Justman, 40.

Having been to the top of Rainier 301 times himself, Robert Link, 55, of Bend, was impressed by his friend’s milestone.

Justman bagged Rainier summit No. 200 on June 4.

“It’s just ridiculous,” Link said.

Justman used to guide for Link’s Bend-based company, Mountain Link.

In May 2004, Justman reached the top of Mount Everest – at 29,035 feet, it’s the tallest in the world. He attempted Everest again in 2006 and 2009 but didn’t make it to the top. Still, he hasn’t given up.

“I’m always looking at going back to Everest,” he said.

But Rainier is where you’ll most often find him, and he’s there guiding climbers.

Originally from Wisconsin, Justman first tried mountain climbing after college in 1995 and fell in love with the sport.

That was on his first climb to the top of Rainier. Although his undergraduate degrees were in health promotion and psychology and his graduate degree was in organization communication — all from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point — he decided to pursue a career as a mountain-climbing guide.

Like Everest, not all of Justman’s climbs on Rainier have ended with a visit to the summit. He said he’s attempted the summit more than 300 times.

Link spoke highly of his former employee.

“He’s strong as an ox, polite as can be, great communication skills … and just loves climbing,” he said.

Now Justman is a guide for Rainier Mountaineering, Inc.., the primary guide service for Mount Rainier. An RMI official spoke highly of Justman, saying customers return just to climb with him again.

“He has an avid following of climbers because he is such a great guy to hang out with,” said Linden Mallory, marketing director and guide with the Ashford, Wash., outfit.

He said only a handful of people have climbed Rainier more than 100 times.

The most popular time is between May 15 and Sept. 15; about 10,000 people do so every year.

Since 1998, Justman has guided with RMI at least part of the year. Often, he said, the climbers are going up their first mountain, like a group from Florida he had earlier this month.

“They had never even seen snow before,” he said.

While climbing the same mountain hundreds of times may seem repetitive, differences in the people you’re with, the route you take and the weather you encounter make each climb unique, said Pete Keane, 49, the owner of Timberline Mountain Guides in Bend.

“It is more variable than you think,” he said.

Although his numbers aren’t close to Justman on Rainier, Keane has summited Mount Hood — Oregon’s tallest mountain — about 300 times.

Since 2003, Justman has called Bend home when not on a climbing expedition. Along with going to Rainier nearly year round, he’ll travel to Argentina, Mexico and other countries with mountains to climb.

“Whenever I get a chance, I love coming back to Bend,” he said.

Despite the proximity of Three Sisters, Mount Hood and other mountains, Justman said he spends most of recreation time in Bend riding his road bike or fly fishing. He’ll also sometimes meet up with Link and some of the other climbing guides here to share a beer and mountain-climbing stories.

“With each trip, it is always an adventure,” he said.