First Black climber to summit Everest celebrates first all-Black expedition: 'Keep going'
A group of climbers who made history by being the first all-Black expedition to summit Mt. Everest last year is getting some advice from the man who paved the way: Don't stop there.
Sibusiso Vilane, the first Black person to reach the top of Everest in 2003 and the only Black person to summit it twice, says he hopes the group's success is just a "starting point."
"I would be delighted to go to some parts of the world, wherever I go on a mountain, and be unable to count the number of Black people that are there," said Vilane, 52. "I hope that they are inspired just to keep going."
The team, known as Full Circle Everest, climbed the world's most famous mountain over 51 days in May of 2022. Seven of the 11 members reached the summit, including Rosemary Saal.
"It felt so powerful and so profound," said the 29-year-old mountaineer, one of three women on the climb. "That desire, that intention to inspire more folks, whether in my immediate community and beyond via this expedition, was absolutely something that was on my mind."
Saal, along with Philip Henderson who organized the historic expedition, has spent years trying to break down racial barriers in the outdoor adventuring community.
According to the Himalayan database, more than 6,000 different people have summited Everest between 1953 and 2023. Less than one percent of them have been Black.
"I wanted people from the Black community to be able to talk about Everest from experience," said Henderson, who works as an outdoor educator in Cortez, Colorado.
Now, that's exactly what they're doing. The team tours the country speaking at schools and other events to encourage more people to explore the rugged outdoors.
"We've been talking about the challenge of the expedition and the challenges that people of color face getting outside," said Demond Mulllins, a sociologist who also summited with Full Circle Everest.
That includes know-how and resources.
When Vilane made his monumental climb 20 years ago, the South African pioneer says he couldn't afford an international phone plan to keep in touch with family nor did he have high-end supplies.
"I was walking around the slopes of Everest wearing my own African clothing, and I could just feel the cold piercing through my skin," said Vilane, who lives in Mbombela, South Africa. "I'd never bought hi-tech equipment or clothing gear or anything because it was too expensive."
While the financial aspect is changing with better access to branded sponsorships and fundraising, the lack of exposure to outdoor activities is still a factor.
Full Circle Everest members are taking up the challenge to educate and motivate. They call the expedition "the tip of the iceberg" and say pushing others to achieve what they did is a key to their legacy.
"So often, there's this phrase that is often times said within the Black community of like, 'Oh, Black people don't do that,'" said Saal. "And so I hope at the very least it's like, 'Oh, Black people don't do that. Except there was that team of Black climbers, OK!'"
Vilane, who has conquered the world's Seven Summits and continues to raise awareness for the sport, says he has only one photo of himself at the summit. He'll celebrate the 20th anniversary of his first summit by taking his four children to base camp in Nepal. And probably a lot more pictures.
I've learned all the things that I needed to apply in my life from mountains," said Vilane. "I'll show them that this is the mountain that is going to probably influence your history. And be with you for generations to come."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Watch: First All-Black expedition climbs Everest
