TA Loeffler is collecting altitudes, one mountain at a time
TA Loeffler can still remember standing atop Mont Blanc and the colour of the night sky with the mountains laid out in front of her. It’s a moment that’s stood out, even six years later. She’s travelled all over the world in search of heights, “It’s brought me to very remote special places, it’s brought me to sacred places. It’s also brought me to some very wonderful, amazing teammates.” People she could depend on with her life. For Loeff ler the most rewarding things about climbing is what it demands from her. “It’s asked me to be uncomfortable. It’s asked me to be physically literate, it’s asked me to do things I never thought I could do,” Loeff ler says. When she isn’t preparing for the next adventure, she leads a busy life as a full-time professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland where she teaches outdoor education at the School of Human Kinetics and Research. Loeff ler’s also a published author and a frequent public speaker. In between all that, she makes the time to train. “There’s definitely never a dull moment. And often times for me, a day can feel like a week and a week can feel like a month. Life is very full and very rich,” she says. As a teenager growing up in Edmonton, she started climbing and was inspired by the Everest climbs of Sharon Wood and Laurie Skreslet. In 2013 Loeff ler became a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and was named one of Canada’s Greatest Explorers in 2015. When it comes to climbing accomplishments, she doesn’t like to use the word conquer: “I don’t think we conquer, we never conquer a mountain.” It’s an honour to be bestowed passage on a mountain, Loeff ler explains: “I think of the mountain allowing me to be on it. And it’s a great privilege to be on it and to be able to have the lessons