This month, seven members of an all-Black mountain climbing team summited Mount Everest, helped along by eight Sherpa guides.
Even though hundreds line up to climb Everest every year, only ten Black people have surmounted the highest peak on Earth before, including only one Black woman, and one Black American.
"I am deeply honored to report that seven members of the Full Circle Everest team reached the summit on May 12," tweeted Philip Henderson, leader of the team and instructor at Nepal's Khumbu Climbing Center (KCC), which trains some of the world's premier mountaineers.
"While a few members, including myself, did not summit, all members of the climb and Sherpa teams have safely returned to Base Camp where we will celebrate this historic moment!"
With the ideal period for climbing Chomolungma, or Mother Goddess of the World, being in May, Full Circle Everest arrived at base camp on Khumbu Glacier—a tent city of athletic hopefuls looking for the perfect weather conditions to scurry up to the summit.
Henderson was the leader of the expedition, which for many days meant eating, resting, gradually acclimatizing to breathing in one-third less oxygen than is found at sea level, and organizing quick jaunts up the mountain as a training regimen.
A post shared by Philip Henderson (@phil_henderson)
Among their team can be found people from all over the U.S., and one man from Kenya, aged 29 to 60, whose everyday lives involve being a sociology professor, a Microsoft data scientist, a chemistry teacher, a freelance photographer and filmmaker, an Iraq War II combat vet, and climbing experts.
"When children around the world see themselves reflected in this all-Black expedition, they too will experience and become part of the value set that is climbing," Conrad Anker, founder of KCC and a colleague of Henderson's, told National Geographic about the achievement.
There's a litany of things that can go wrong on Everest, and many people who reach basecamp will never get the opportunity to climb the mountain. Full Circle team member Fred Campbell, from Seattle, said this knowledge added to the pressure.
"It would be nice to just climb [Everest], but we are representing Black people," he said. "As much as it's an extra burden, I think it'll have a positive impact."
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