Full Circle, an all-black (and brown) team, eyes Everest summit this year to signify inclusion in and out of Nepal

In the summer of 2013, Phil Henderson, James ‘KG’ Kagambi and Rosemary Saal stood at the top of Denali, commemorating the 100 th anniversary of the first ascent of the mountain . For Kagambi and Saal, this moment was special as they along with a few others had become members of the first all-black team to reach the highest point of North America. Even though Henderson was not part of this team, he was brimming with pride seeing how far their community had come when it came to climbing.

Fast forward nearly nine years, this team of black climbers have assembled once again. This time, their goal is a little higher than Denali. The Full Circle team , led by Henderson, is planning to summit the highest mountain in the world, Everest, as it wants to become the first black and brown team to even attempt to climb Everest this spring. Through this, the nine-member team hopes to inspire a young generation of black and brown people along with those underrepresented as they believe that this is an opportunity to draw more people in from these communities into climbing.