Magnificent Mount Everest or as called by Tibetan’s mount “Qomolangma” as that name comes up due to them seeing something special. Among the elevated landmark they knew, this one always wore a ‘white scarf’ & since Tibetans have an ancient custom of giving each other a present of the white scarf as a sign of respect, which they call ‘kata’. So, they named the famous mountain Qomolangma, “Goddess Mother of the Wind”.
The British realized that this mountain was also the highest in the world – although both the Chinese and Nepal sides of the mountain were closed to foreigners. So, they sent in spies to investigate, and one of the first was led by Captain Noel who described his approach:
“I decided in 1913 to seek out the passes that led to Everest and if possible, to come to close quarters with the mountain… to follow down the Tashirak Valley to reach the Kama Valley and then to go up this valley to Mount Everest. The maps were entirely wrong. This mountain range stood between me and Mount Everest…
The concurring of the natural monument started in 1921, under the leadership of courageous Lieutenant Colonel C.K. Howard-Bury, who set himself to explore the Himalayan range under the famous exclamation: “Because it’s there”.
As with anything that is meant to be improved, diversified & transformed so is the experience of grandiose scale such as breaking the limit of human abilities. In a sense of heights, this scale can only be evaluated by majestical Mount Everest.
If anybody would test the validity of that statement, that is going to be a team led by Phil Henderson, a 30-year-old veteran, San Diego Native in the Outdoor Industry.
The climb will be done in the spring by nine Black & brown experts which will be a fundamental historic moment to be remembered for the US & global narrative.
In the world of achievement everything comes to collaboration & open-minded spirit, years go by & there is no way we can stop them, yet it is our choice to make a decision with strong intentions & move along with them forward. “It was an obvious connection. I had a dream to explore my experience in the outdoor industry & help facilitate for those who desire an opportunity that was not present for me at the time.”
It will be a two months journey for the team to succeed in their pursuit, elevating themselves to the height of 29,032 feet at Everest’s summit, the jewel of Nepal surrounded by a freezing temperature & rough conditions.
After completing the climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Henderson knows that climb of this challenge comes down to the mentality of mind over matter.
“Physical aspect is only one side of the story, but mental comprehension is where the true difficulty is. How do we take care of ourselves rigorously & substantially? How do we take weather into consideration & how do we calculate our pace accordingly? All of these things might look like common sense, second nature, but we only integrate those parts of ourselves as we gain it with practice & experience in our craft. That is a true challenge of accepting a monumental contest such as Mount Everest.
Achieving the impossible is not a new task for Henderson. In 1994, he was the first African-American instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School. An inspiring opportunity of meeting diversity.
“It’s about being a soft warrior of witnessing the difficulty at hand & looking for the best outcome regardless of the situation when we get this when we take the steps towards it, the people we are with, we are left with no choice, but to trust & rely on. Not everyone is open to putting their life on the line & fall into the hands of the other, but it's also about knowing that they are putting their life in my hands too. Stereotypes, stigmas, biases – all these things need to be erased in their entirety.
Once the story has been recognized, Full Circle Everest (a group of nine adventurers) received an overwhelming amount of support from all over the world, allowing them to suppress the set goal of 50$K as a milestone for meeting permits & equipment requirements. The next bar is set for 75$ thousand to cover the flight & travel costs for climbers to arrive in Nepal.
Henderson aims for a high praised historic journey that will leave them marked on the global map as people of color exploring the limits of beyond hobby milestones.
“Clarity. Clarity. Clarity. It doesn’t matter whether you are a guide on Kilimanjaro. It is about looking beyond the boundaries, beyond the limits, of what work opportunity tells us we can do. This mindset applies to all modalities, be you an engineer, graphic designer, or fashion designer. It’s about reaching happiness through your pursuit & implementing that with a healthy, grounded lifestyle.”
Perhaps it would be a good route to wrap up with a few facts most of us wouldn’t know/heard about:
Mount Everest is only the highest mountain above the sea level, while Hawaii’s Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain base-to-peak at 10,210m (33,500 ft), but only 4,205m (13,796 ft) is above the sea level, meanwhile “the roof of the world” (aka Everest) is 8,848.86 meters high.
Mount Everest grows on average 4mm (0.2”) a year or about 40 centimeters (16 inches) per century.
Mount Everest area was originally covered by an ocean. The limestones & sandstones on the summit were found to be submarine sedimentary rocks formed approximately 450 million years ago.
Mount Everest was first climbed on May 29, 1953, by Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand & Tenzing Norgay, a sherpa from Nepal. By now Everest has been summited over 9000 times & a record for the amount goes to Kami Rita Sherpa, who’s reached the top 24 times.