They Are Set To Make History As The First All-Black American Climbing Team To Summit On Mount Everest

They’re looking to make history!

A group of climbers are set to make history as the first all Black American climbing team to summit on Mount Everest, Black Enterprise reports.

Phil Henderson is a veteran Himalayan mountaineer and a former instructor at the National Outdoor Leadership School. Recently, he launched a project, the Full Circle Everest Expedition, a group of 9 climbers looking to make history as the first all Black American climbing team to attempt to summit Mount Everest. 

Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world with a report of more than 10,000 summits as of 2020. Out of those summits, only eight have been Black climbers, men and women from Africa and Jamaica but never one American climber. 

The team of seven men and two women who call themselves the “dream team,” will attempt this effort to not only make their personal dreams come true but also to change the landscape of representation in mountaineering. 

“I believe this project is important to the development of our team members in their growth in the mountaineering space. It is bringing forward a greater conversation about Black and brown people in the outdoors and what that means: past, present, and future. Being that our entire team is made up of Black people, it is an important display of leadership, commitment, and teamwork to our community as well as the greater climbing world,” Henderson said. 

The group is currently raising money to fund the expedition. The team has plans to document the journey including their training, planning sessions and mental and emotional states of being throughout the process. The group is looking to make a global shift in the conversation around Black mountain climbers. 

“A big part of that has to be on the upper scale. This is an iconic mountain. We want to include Black and brown people in the history of American mountaineering,” Henderson said. 

To support the efforts of the Full Circle Everest Expedition, click here and follow them on Instagram.

UPDATE: Seven members of the Full Circle Everest team reached the summit on May 12, 2022. Read full post below. 

Photo Courtesy of @FullCircleEverest/Instagram