[kerkeslager]

Yeah, but you can do Rainier with your own gear and your own plan, as opposed to having a bunch of sherpas do all the work.

Sure, you can do the same for Everest, but then you're actually in a class of elite alpinists. That's not really what we're discussing here.

Complete beginners climb Everest as their first and often last major summit. No argument about altitude can prove that it's not a beginner climb if hundred of beginners are doing it every year.