First All-Black Team will attempt to climb Mount Everest

Mount Everest is considered to be the highest point in the world above sea level. Many have scaled it from around the world and Full Circle is attempting to be the first all-Black team of mountaineers to climb it.

Full Circle

The team, known as Full Circle Expedition, claims that only 10 Black climbers have stood atop Everest. Phil Henderson, a longtime mountaineer, says he plans to lead this expedition.

The first Black woman to scale Mount Everest successfully did so in 2019. Forty-seven-year-old Saray N’kusi Khumalo, a South African mountaineer, scaled the mountain after three failed attempts.

Her achievement was highlighted by the South African government and by her local support contact, Mingma Sherpa of the Seven Summits Treks hiking agency. Sherpa said that her achievement as the first Black African woman to reach the summit was “100 percent true.”

GoFundMe

Full Circle has set up a GoFundMe in order to fund the expedition, obtain permits and hire a support team. As of this writing, they have raised around $56,000 of the $75,000 fundraising goal.

The Full Circle Expedition highlighted its goals on its GoFundMe:

Our team represents our community and are building blocks for greater representation of the climbing community and the outdoors. As a team we are strong and supportive of each other. In preparation for the expedition, we are climbing and training together.

A trip like this is out of reach for many in our community. We need to secure $50,000 of the overall budget by October 1st, 2021, to obtain permits and our support team members for the spring of 2022. With your help seeding this project, we can show the power and value in Black stories.
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The impact of this expedition will resonate long after its completion and will continue to highlight the importance of representation in the outdoors.

Full Circle’s Goal

In an interview with the Associated Press, the Full Circle team said they hope its expedition, as well as a high-profile training plan and publicity push, will encourage people of color to not just reach for the sky, but simply get outside and enjoy nature.

“From gardening to bird watching to climbing Everest, the sky is really the limit when it comes to people just getting outside and really understanding the benefits of spending time in nature,” Henderson says.

The team consists of seven men and two women, some of whom are athletes sponsored by The North Face, and others who are experienced mountaineers who also happen to include a teacher and an entrepreneur. They are currently training and say the expedition will take place in 2022.