Full Circle Everest: Breaking Barriers on the World’s Tallest Mountain
Photo by Philip Henderson
At 8,848.86 meters (29,031.7 feet), Mount Everest pierces the sky as the world’s tallest mountain straddling the border of Nepal and Tibet. It is a place of staggering beauty and challenge, where shifting weather, avalanches, and the thin air of the death zone push humans to their limits. Most who dream of its summit will never touch it. Those who do often spend a lifetime preparing for the chance.
In 2022, Philip Henderson, a legendary outdoor educator, mountaineer, and POW Climb Alliance and Board member, stood at the base of Everest, not just as a climber but as the leader of a historic first.
For more than 30 years, he’s guided others through high peaks, whitewater rafting, and skiing on expeditions spanning East Africa, South America, Nepal, and beyond. He was also honored with the Outdoor Afro Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. His decades of experience—and a lifelong commitment to expanding representation in the outdoors—culminated in Full Circle Everest: the first all-Black team to attempt the summit of the world’s highest peak.
To summit Everest is a lifetime pinnacle achievement for most, but for Henderson, the climb was never about reaching the top. It was about opening doors, bridging gaps, and reshaping the narrative of who belongs in the outdoors.
Henderson didn’t plan on being a mountaineer. “It wasn’t something I dreamed about,” he says. “It just kind of landed in my lap.” But after decades in the outdoor industry, managing education programs and leading expeditions, Henderson realized that what was missing wasn’t just more access or better gear, it was visibility.
“The people I was used to being around didn’t exist in this industry,” says Henderson.
So he began to build that space himself.
Building the Full Circle Everest Team
The seeds of Full Circle Everest were planted years ago in a conversation with legendary climber and POW Board member Conrad Anker. “We talked about an expedition like this, but we didn’t know if we could build that team,” Henderson recalls. A few years later, he connected with climber and teammate Fred Campbell, and the dream started taking shape.
With each connection, the team grew. “We weren’t trying to make a statement. These were skilled, passionate people who looked like me and had the experience to be there,” Henderson says.
The team was built with intention: diverse in skill sets, backgrounds, and perspectives. “We wanted the team to be gender neutral,” Henderson explains. “That was going to be a challenge. But I knew some strong women from past expeditions—Rosemary and Adina—and I knew what they were capable of.”
The team consisted of Manoah Ainuu, Eddie Taylor, Rosemary Saal, Demond Mullins, Evan Green, Thomas Moore, James Kagambi, Fred Campbell, Abbey Dione, Adina Scott and Phil.
On May 12, 2022, the Full Circle Everest team was ready, and history was made when seven of the eight members summited.
Finding Representation and Breaking Down Barriers
Full Circle Everest was about visibility and showing what’s possible when people who have long been excluded from the outdoor industry step into its highest echelons. “If someone sees someone like them doing something they thought was impossible, that can go a long way.”
He’s seen the ripple effects firsthand, from Uganda to the U.S. “A group in Uganda reached out and said, ‘We have high mountains too, but we don’t have access to Everest. How do we get there?” Henderson says. “That touches my heart, and underscores why this climb mattered far beyond the summit.”
Representation isn’t just symbolic; it opens minds, shifts perceptions, and inspires action. “The people who look like me exist. We just don’t know who they are yet,” he says. “This expedition didn’t open a door. But it showed people the door was there.”
Henderson remains clear-minded about the barriers that still exist, whether it be financial, cultural, or systemic. “Mountaineering is a burden,” he says. “Whether it’s time, money, or access, it’s out of reach for many.” And yet, he believes that shifting perception can go further than simply unlocking opportunity.
When asked what’s still missing in the outdoor community, Henderson doesn’t hesitate: mentorship. “We need to start exposing people to the outdoors at a very young age,” he says. “If you don’t plant the seed, you don’t get anything back.”
It’s not just about kids, either. “I’ve spoken to everyone from kindergarteners to professional conference-goers. They all need that push, that exposure,” Henderson shares.
To the young climbers, hikers, and dreamers who don’t see themselves reflected in the outdoor world, Henderson offers this: “If it makes you happy, do it. But also, as adults, we need to make sure those opportunities exist. It’s a two-way street and it’s cross-generational.”
He sees this responsibility as something all leaders in the outdoor community should take seriously. “We need to reach all of those people and make them feel like they’re a part of this,” he says.
The Bigger Picture
Henderson sees Full Circle Everest as just one step on a much longer journey. “Regardless of color or background, people are people. Expeditions are expeditions,” he says. “The risks are the same. The more connected we are, the more we can manage those risks.”
He’s not interested in gatekeeping mountaineering or keeping his story to himself. “It would be easy not to share this,” he says. “But I’ve always been the type of person who, when someone says, ‘I want to try that,’ I say, ‘Okay, let’s go.’”
Because in the end, Full Circle Everest wasn’t just about reaching the top of the world; it was about making sure others could stand there too.
A Behind the Scenes Look at Full Circle Everest
Photos by Evan Green and Phil Henderson
Author: Stacie Sullivan
Stacie always knew she wanted to pursue a career in the ski industry from a young age, having first clicked into skis at the age of 4 and writing her 8th grade career project on being a professional skier. While her dreams of becoming a professional athlete didn’t quite pan out the way she planned at […]
