{"id":2584921,"date":"2022-06-06T14:59:50","date_gmt":"2022-06-06T20:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/?p=2584921"},"modified":"2022-06-06T14:59:50","modified_gmt":"2022-06-06T20:59:50","slug":"all-black-everest-summit-full-circle-kagambi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/outdoor-adventure\/everest\/all-black-everest-summit-full-circle-kagambi\/","title":{"rendered":"A Conversation with a Member of the First All-Black Team to Summit Everest"},"content":{"rendered":"

On May 12, 2022, seven members of the 11-person Full Circle Everest<\/a> expedition\u2014the first all-Black team taking on Mount Everest<\/a>\u2014summited the world\u2019s highest peak. Spearheaded by outdoor educator Phil Henderson<\/a>, this expedition has been warmly supported across the world and sets a new bar for cultural representation in mountaineering.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

James \u201cKG\u201d Kagambi,<\/a> 62, the oldest member of the expedition and the sole Kenyan on an otherwise all-American team, was among those who made it to the top. \u201cWe nearly doubled the number of Black people who have stood on the top of Everest,\u201d he notes. \u201cPreviously there were only eight.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He sat down with me back in Kenya, his freshly shaven skin glowing after more than a month i<\/span>n Nepal, to chat about how the highly anticipated trip went: how he felt, what he saw, and what\u2019s next on the horizon for him.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Kagambi on his way to the summit. <\/span> (Photo: Courtesy KG Kagambi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Climbing:<\/i><\/b> What was surprising to you on this expedition?<\/span><\/p>\n

Kagambi:<\/b> The most surprising thing, which maybe shouldn\u2019t have been, was how crowded it was at the top. There are these things that we know about but can\u2019t fathom until we experience them ourselves. Also, <\/span>Everest is about having stamina\u2014can you walk for 18 hours, stop, and then keep going? But having a technical background does help with success on Everest, and lends a feeling of accomplishment. Otherwise, it can feel like it\u2019s just other people doing things for you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Climbing:<\/i><\/b> How did your time at the different Everest camps go?<\/span><\/p>\n

Kagambi:<\/b> The whole time, we felt extremely supported and ate well\u2014potatoes, rice, sandwiches, fish, sometimes mutton\u2026three-course meals. Since this was a very publicized expedition, people from all over kept coming up to us to chat, congratulate us, take photos, and wish us well. I think the most challenging thing was the cough. I couldn\u2019t talk, sing, and dance as much as I wanted to.<\/span><\/p>\n

Climbing:<\/i><\/b> What was summit day like?<\/span><\/p>\n

Kagambi:<\/b> We had two \u201crotations,\u201d the first one for practice, and we sent it on the second one since the weather was good. On that second rotation, we knew we might summit. We were divided into two groups. At Camp III, I started using oxygen, which felt really good.<\/span><\/p>\n

In terms of my emotions, the closer I got to the top, the less I thought it was real. I thought I was dreaming. But at the top with the crowds, that changed. It brought me back to earth. You had to think about your safety, clipping, and how to get down. It put me back on alert mode\u2014I had to think about how to get out of there. I don\u2019t feel that I had many other challenges when compared to other mountains. For instance, Denali was tougher in terms of weather and how wearing that was. Of course, this was also affected by how much support we had\u2014tons!\u2014and also temperature. We were blessed; the weather was good to us pretty much the whole time.<\/span><\/p>\n

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(Photo: Courtesy KG Kagambi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the summit, I had wanted to pray\u2014to kneel down and thank God. But things were not really possible up there with so many people. Still, I prayed for my country, which made me feel good. Looking over, and being on top of everything, that made me feel good.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coming down, it was just me and my Sherpa, Sanaam. We were joking and laughing, and I had to be careful with my knees.<\/span><\/p>\n

Climbing:<\/i><\/b> You mention your knees: How did the expedition physically feel to you?<\/span><\/p>\n

Kagambi:<\/b> My knees have been a weak point, so I was very careful and conscious of where I was stepping. In general, it wasn\u2019t an issue, but I did fall twice on crampons and hit the same spot on my left knee twice. I felt the most pain in my knees in the past two weeks, when I stopped exercising. I was supposed to have knee replacement surgery last year, which I put off for Full Circle. But now I\u2019m undecided about whether I\u2019ll have it next year or at all\u2014we\u2019ll just see how things go.<\/span><\/p>\n

I did catch a cough\u2014the <\/span>Khumbu cough<\/span>, as they call it\u2014from the cold air.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe most surprising thing, which maybe shouldn\u2019t have been, was how crowded it was at the top. There are these things that we know about but can\u2019t fathom until we experience them ourselves.\u201d (Photo: KG Kagambi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Climbing:<\/i><\/b> How did it feel being an older member of the expedition?<\/span><\/p>\n

Kagambi:<\/b> It didn\u2019t bother me at all. I think my experience helped to balance out the age gap. For instance, I refused to get out of breath. All my decades of mountaineering helped me find the right pace. Nobody should worry about me. I\u2019m unbothered with not getting references in conversations, I just jump in when I can. If anything, I felt that everyone respected me so much.<\/span><\/p>\n

Climbing:<\/i><\/b> How was the team cohesion?<\/span><\/p>\n

Kagambi:<\/b> We all got along. We had a lot of free time, which can be challenging if you\u2019re not expecting it. People may not realize that you need to take time and just hang out to give your body a chance to acclimate instead of rushing forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

Phil was a true leader. From early, he decided not to summit, that he was only going to Camp II. There was much to do and deal with: logistics, cooks, porters\u2026all that needed a lot of attention. It was a very intentional choice, and he still felt that he succeeded.<\/span><\/p>\n

Phil was also really good at handling the film crew, dealing with the proximity of how they were filming. Of course, sometimes they get up in your face, but if Phil felt that a moment shouldn\u2019t be recorded, he would make that clear. The film crew is made of seven people: three from Nepal, four from the U.S. And they were with us in December, so we had a good rapport going on.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Henderson (left) and Kagambi (Photo: Courtesy KG Kagambi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Climbing:<\/i><\/b> From your time on Everest, did you gain any insights into the industry there?<\/span><\/p>\n

Kagambi:<\/b> On Everest, things are easy. You can helicopter things in, have yaks carry loads. It\u2019s definitely possible to have a luxurious camping experience on that mountain. I want to bring these ideas back to Kenya\u2014like having heaters in tents\u2014to bring up what we have to offer to the next level, and charge more.<\/span><\/p>\n

Climbing:<\/i><\/b> How did the situation look up there in terms of environmental degradation?<\/span><\/p>\n

Kagambi:<\/b> To be honest, it was a lot cleaner on Everest than I had imagined and from what I\u2019d heard. Apparently, during the height of COVID, Sherpas took the opportunity to clean up the slopes of Everest. I expected to see a lot more trash. Camp IV was indeed more littered\u2014there were noticeably more tattered tents and empty oxygen tanks lying about.<\/span><\/p>\n

In dealing with human waste, they carry everything down from Everest Base Camp, which is something that folks on Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya could learn from.<\/span><\/p>\n

Something that made me happy that I wasn\u2019t expecting was the National Geographic Society camp. They were really doing a good job. We found Sherpas cleaning everything and carrying all the waste down\u2014even yak poop. \u201cLeave no trace\u201d has become an expectation at every camp; you have to sweep before they let you go.<\/span><\/p>\n

Climbing:<\/i><\/b> Were you looking forward to anything upon returning home?<\/span><\/p>\n

Kagambi:<\/b> Through all my years working in this industry, I\u2019ve learned to not hold onto any expectations; I\u2019ve been disappointed so many times in the past about what I want when I come back. It can be something like wanting to eat a piece of meat from a certain place, but getting called into the field as a replacement and having no choice but to head back into the field.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we were coming down the mountain, the weather was changing so quickly. Phil decided that we would helicopter out. We got to the second town just below [Everest Base Camp], just in time, where we had no network for two days. I was fine with just being there, instead of going to Kathmandu to eat some momos. It ended up being a good buffer zone\u2014stopping in the middle of nowhere gave me time to think. I was mainly resting and taking care of myself. That quiet time let me appreciate the fact that our people from Full Circle went and did what they wanted to.<\/span><\/p>\n

Climbing:<\/i><\/b> I\u2019ve read interviews where there was no mention of the Sherpas\u2014without whom the expedition would not be possible. What do you think this indicates about the industry?<\/span><\/p>\n

Kagambi:<\/b> From the beginning, Phil placed a strong emphasis on how much support we had\u2014not just in terms of sponsors. So we were quite aware that it\u2019s a lot more than just us going to the mountain, that there\u2019s a whole team behind us who are just as part of the expedition and helping make this happen. I could tell that not all companies set the tone this way. We definitely need to give more recognition to people behind the scenes.<\/span><\/p>\n

I did notice the respect between Sherpas. They offered help and support to everyone they came across, not just their own clients. Instead of people competing, it felt that we were working together. They were also really good at pairing us up with Sherpas to match our different paces\u2014one per person. At that elevation, you can\u2019t be subjected to other people\u2019s speeds.<\/span><\/p>\n

Climbing:<\/i><\/b> What was the reception like back in Kenya?<\/span><\/p>\n

Kagambi:<\/b> Overwhelming. There was a lot of media attention even before we left Nepal. I had calls from Base Camp, where data gets incredibly expensive\u2014$200 for ten gigabytes!\u2014and have a lot of events lined up for this whole first week back. But I am somewhat mentally prepared since it was busy like this before my departure as well. The President of Nepal<\/span>\u00a0had said that he wanted to meet me, although he hasn\u2019t followed up on that. And the Minister of Tourism mentioned me by name as he was coming down from Mount Kenya himself the other week.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Kagambi (left) and Sanaam <\/span>(Photo: Courtesy KG Kagambi)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Climbing:<\/i><\/b> How do you think Full Circle might help elevate Kenyan climbing? It\u2019s a question that has been percolating in the club community here.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kagambi:<\/b> The Ministry of Tourism still hasn\u2019t recognized mountaineering or rock climbing as a sport in Kenya. In the talks I have lined up, I\u2019ll be sure to bring this up\u2014you never know who will hear it. You don\u2019t have to look at it from a cost perspective; you can go for a hike for free. It\u2019s my hope that everyone can at least try these things and see how they feel. For sure it will benefit you. I want to encourage not only mountaineering but just going out for a hike to see how that fits into your life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Climbing:<\/i><\/b> How will this change your career?<\/span><\/p>\n

Kagambi:<\/b> People have been asking me this a lot. I haven\u2019t found an answer yet, but I still want to be myself during my time in the mountains. I\u2019m still committed to being an outdoors educator and want to always have fun and see how kids grow up. I would be disappointed if this were taken away. I have a contract in Wyoming with NOLs, from late June to September. People ask, \u201cWhy are you going there?\u201d They have no idea how wonderful it is.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kenyan climber KG Kagambi, 62, opens up about the historic trek up the world\u2019s tallest mountain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123178,"featured_media":2584936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"uuid":"5f02a63250f5efbd0581c71bd97a2f97","footnotes":""},"categories":[6578],"tags":[6272,3102,2720],"byline":[6628],"ad_cat":[],"legacy-category":[],"class_list":["post-2584921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-everest","tag-everest","tag-mount-everest","tag-syndicated","byline-kang-chun-cheng"],"acf":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"A Conversation with a Member of the First All-Black Team to Summit Everest","url":"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/outdoor-adventure\/everest\/all-black-everest-summit-full-circle-kagambi\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/outdoor-adventure\/everest\/all-black-everest-summit-full-circle-kagambi\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/KG1.jpg","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/KG1.jpg"},"articleSection":"Everest","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"cobrien"}],"creator":["cobrien"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Online","logo":"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/favicon-194x194-1.png"},"keywords":["everest","mount everest","syndicated"],"dateCreated":"2022-06-06T20:59:50Z","datePublished":"2022-06-06T20:59:50Z","dateModified":"2022-06-06T20:59:50Z"},"rendered":"