First All-Black American Climbing Team Set to Make History to Reach Summit On Mount Everest

Black people are continuing to make history—this time, it’s a group of climbers attempting to summit Mount Everest.

Mount Everest is the world’s highest mountain. While Black men and women from Africa and Jamaica climbed the Himalayan peak, no Black American has ever made it to the top of Mount Everest.

However, Phil Henderson, a former instructor at the National Outdoor Leadership School and veteran Himalayan mountaineer, is trying to change that through a project he’s leading called the Full Circle Everest Expedition.

In 2022, a team of nine climbers, seven men and two women, who call themselves the “dream team,” will begin this historic journey.

“I believe this project is important to the development of our team members in their growth in the mountaineering space,” Henderson told the Outside Business Journal. “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.”

The Full Circle Expedition

The full circle expedition will make history as the first Black climbing team to attempt to summit the highest mountain on Earth. As of 2020, there have been more than 10,000 summits of the mountain. According to Travel Noire, only eight Black climbers have stood on the top of Everest. This expedition could change the future of mountaineering on a global scale.

“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.

You can offer your support to the group and help with funding by clicking here.