The first all-Black climbing group has its sights set on the summit of the earth’s tallest mountain above sea level: Everest. Its seven members will be departing the US for Nepal the first week of April and returning in late May. “When you go to Africa, you see Black people climbing. Mountain Kenya has Black climbers, Black guides, and Black people who own climbing businesses,” says team leader Phil Henderson. Yet, Black climbers and mountaineers are notoriously absent from historical accounts of record-setting ascents.

Henderson not only assembled the team, but also his sponsorships are helping to offset the costs of the adventure. An instructor for National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) for 30 years, he has led expeditions from Alaska to Africa. He has traveled across the world to climb and ski some of the world's highest peaks and mountains. 

When asked about the origins of the group’s name, Henderson stressed that it needed to make an impact. “The way it came to me was that I found myself giving my time and energy to anyone who wanted to get outside and try the things that got me into working in the outdoor industry,” he told Sierra. “It was recognizing a need and filling the gap.” Hence, Full Circle.

Team leader Phil Henderson, enjoying the view during a training trip on Mt. Rainier.

Team member Eddy Taylor, a former D1 track athlete who met Henderson five years ago when the two were climbing Denali, the highest mountain in the United States, says it’s important for aspiring Black adventurers to see Black people in the outdoors. “I think there’s so many benefits of being in the outdoors,” Taylor told Sierra. ”How it makes you feel, the ability to push yourself, seeing things that you wouldn’t normally see, and seeing beauty in nature. Those things have not been opened to people in historically marginalized communities. Access comes from removing barriers.” He adds, “When you see someone who looks like you in the news or a Google search, it makes you feel like it’s something you can do.” 

For years, mountaineering has had a reputation as an endeavor for white, Western European, and American men. Full Circle’s historic trek has even greater significance because there will be three women participating. Adina Scott will be posted at basecamp, updating the rest of the world on the ascent, while Rosemary Saal and Abby Dione will be climbing with the group. Black outdoors groups, Scott explains, are part of a larger movement to support and promote Black joy. For Black people, the outdoors used to be associated with forced labor, but groups like Full Circle are reclaiming and redefining what it means to be in the outdoors. From photos of reaching new heights to group pictures with gleaming smiles, “the group and I are hoping to show the world a bunch of Black joy,” Scott says.

Adina Scott met Rosemary Saal on an expedition to Denali in 2018, and they have been close friends ever since. (The two met Henderson afterward at the Anchorage Airport, where the three quickly bonded.) Saal was initially inspired to get into outdoor activities by her father, an avid skier, and vividly recalls sitting on a trail lift as a child, looking at mountains in a way she never had before; a childhood friend got her into climbing trees and ascending onto the roof of their school. She began rock climbing when a friend recommended Passages Northwest (which now goes by Bold and Gold), a small nonprofit organization geared toward outdoor adventures for young girls. Her Passages Northwest mentor, Robin Chiles, encouraged her to push her limits by getting more involved with mountain climbing. After taking her climbing prowess all the way to the summit of Denali, Saal proceeded to train at the NOLS campus in Patagonia, Chile. In Patagonia, she spent time with Henderson, his wife, and his daughter. Henderson encouraged Saal, gifting her mountaineering equipment including a Whisperlite and a white gas-fueled stove. In 2018, Henderson invited Saal to join a Kilimanjaro expedition hosted by Outdoor Afro. 

The following year, Saal worked as a field course instructor for a NOLS people of color backpacking affinity space course. Henderson called her to provide some mentorship about the trip and concluded their conversation with, “By the way, would you be interested in climbing Everest?” and then casually said goodbye. “It left me floored,” says Saal.

 While Saal (pictured, right) herself is enthusiastic about the Full Circle expedition, not everyone is thrilled to see her participating. Saal is of mixed heritage; she is part white and part Black—and has received criticism for choosing to participate in an all-Black expedition. A prominent Black news source even cropped her out of a photo of the Full Circle team. Despite being unsure whether she had a place in the expedition, Henderson assured Saal that she was and will always be a valued member of the Full Circle team, which includes members who are mixed race, African American, first generation, and Kenyan. “The diversity of the diaspora is present on this expedition,” says Saal, who hopes to inspire and uplift all Black people by participating in the expedition to Everest. She adds, “This isn’t about getting to the top. If the stars align, if the mountain allows, that’s wonderful, but that is not the only marker of a successful expedition.”

Abby Dione fell in love with the outdoors because of where she was raised. Dione is first-generation African Canadian; her mother is from Ethiopia and her father is from Guinea. “Growing up in Canada (especially in French Canada), being outdoors was encouraged,” says Dione. “There are parks in every neighborhood, and in the summertime, everyone congregates at Mt. Royal, a defunct volcano located in the middle of Montreal.”

Dione attended the University of Miami for college, earning a bachelor’s degree in math and a minor in biology, and then graduate school, where she studied marine and atmospheric science. But she missed her hilly childhood, and eventually, in 2011, purchased the Coral Cliffs climbing gym in Miami, where she’s been teaching for over a decade. “I have been fortunate enough to have an incubator,” she told Sierra. “I’ve treated my gym as an incubator. I can prove my climbing not only through physical exertion, but also I think through learning to teach people about climbing. My understanding of movement has developed in such a great amount by teaching other folks how to climb.” 

The perpetually warm climate in Miami causes snow to melt and makes it difficult to find outdoor courses to climb. Still, Dione is a single-pitch instructor and is currently in the process of becoming a climbing-wall provider. Like her teammates, she believes Full Circle’s trek will make a huge impact on minority communities. “Once somebody sees it's possible, it gives them permission to try. There are systemic barriers and systemic points of friction that add to the difficulty of folks having access to resources that could really change their lives. What happens is, folks end up limiting themselves and not giving themselves permission to try.” She continues, “The outdoor industry and mountaineering in particular is not separate from the world in that it suffers from the same lack of diversity.” 

The Full Circle expedition is beyond representing Black people in the outdoors. It is about promoting a connection with the outdoors regardless of where you are from or what you look like. It is a reminder to climbers and armchair adventurers alike that anything is possible.

Team member Demond “Dom” Mullins, climbing during a training trip in Nepal.