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Author Archives: TA Loeffler
Kili Karuna #16
Happy 111th Day of the Year, Life seems to vacillate between mountaintops and valleys. Though frequently I think, we wish it would stick only to the peaks. My week had both summits and canyons, often in close proximity to each … Continue reading
Kili Karuna #15
Hello April Showers, The snow is beating a hasty retreat with all the rain and warm temperatures. As people are thinking of warmth and gardens and summer, I dream of cold, high places. Hmm–I may have to do something about … Continue reading
Kili Karuna #14
Greetings from a Gorgeous Sunday Afternoon, We’ve been treated to a most delightful weekend of weather this weekend. The warm sunshine is breathing energy and light into my winter weary cells. The Newfoundland WOKies (Women of Kilimanjaro) had a fabulous … Continue reading
Kili Karuna #13
Happy Festival of Hygieia (Greek Goddess of Health), Just in from an inspired run on a delightful Sunday morning. Soft flakes of gently falling snow rubbed shoulders with the flowing angular light of post equinox inviting me to fall under … Continue reading
Kili Karuna #12
Happy Easter and Spring to All, It was a whirlwind week that alternated between flurries of activity and hours of sitting “doing nothing.” I spent as much of the week as I could, in a meditation retreat learning to work … Continue reading
Kili Karuna #11
Happy Break in the Storm to Everyone, One year ago, I was very nervous. I was leaving the next day to fly to Nepal to fulfill a lifelong dream of climbing Mount Everest. My heart went out to all the … Continue reading
Kili Karuna #10
Happy Ides of March to All, Hopefully we all fare better than Caesar as we approach this year’s ides. I’m tired tonight so this will likely be short update unless I catch a sixth or seventh wind. Another training phase … Continue reading
Kili Karuna #9
Happy March! Phil Alcock, puts me through my paces at the Core Health Spa, and I shot some footage of this week’s training. Yesterday, I cut it into a montage to highlight how I’m using functional fitness techniques to strengthen … Continue reading
Kili Karuna #8
Happy Leap Year to All, I had a great training week with lots of energy and focus–that was a treat. I traded off my cement legs for the week and enjoyed a sense of greater strength throughout my entire body. … Continue reading
Kili Karuna #7
Happy Belated Valentine’s Day to All, There is magic in a moon shadow. That there can be enough light in the dark to cast a shadow sometimes defies logic and inspires a sense of “the special.” Five of us braved … Continue reading
Kili Karuna #6
Heartfelt Greetings to All, My thoughts are buzzing around in my head and quickly plugging the outlet as they compete to come out through my fingers. I’m listening to Con Te Partirò (Time to Say Good-Bye). It was one of … Continue reading
Kili Karuna #5
Howdy from St. John’s, I sit to write once again with a heavy and saddened heart. My friend and colleague, Frank Butler, passed away suddenly this week. He was well loved by so many of his students and colleagues. He … Continue reading
Kili Karuna #4
Greetings from a Frosty Sunday Evening, I’m sunk into my chair. I guess you are getting the idea that I always write from my chair. Something about the act of plunking myself down into my IKEA haven signals my mind … Continue reading
Kili Karuna #3
Greetings from a Snowy Evening in St. John’s, I am once again in my chair–no ice this time–trying to find words to describe my week. It was the second full week of a more intense training schedule, so by Friday, … Continue reading
Kili Karuna #2
Hello to All, I’m just back from my long run and am sitting on my favorite chair icing my leg trying to keep ahead of my irritable IT band. I spent much of my run ruminating over the past week … Continue reading
Happy New Year and Kili Karuna #1
Happy New Year and Happy Old Christmas Eve, Here in Newfoundland, and I’m sure many other places, this is the twelfth day of Christmas. A time for one last Christmas party, taking the tree and decorations down, and begin to … Continue reading
Chilean Clif Notes and Pictures
Some folks said they were scared off by the length of my last posting so as I make my transition back from the icy heights to the ice of the hockey rink, I thought I would provide a summary version … Continue reading
Posted in Ojos
Tagged expedition, Eyes of the Spirit, Ojos
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Deliriously Happy in Santiago
I’m flying from Copiapo to Santiago, Chilean tunes blaring in my ears, investigating if my laptop will still work after three weeks of environmental punishment, and I am deliriously happy. Perhaps it is the doubling of my oxygen supply since … Continue reading
Posted in Ojos
Tagged expedition, Eyes of the Spirit, Ojos
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News from Chile
Unexpectedly we are in a hotel, a refuge beside the road. The snow drove us to luxury in a simple hacienda instead of camping down the road. We were up at 5:30 am to scale Lascar (5545 metres)-a volcano that … Continue reading
Hello from Chile 2
Hi All, I have just a brief stop in town before heading out for Lascar base camp this afternoon. Everything is going very well. The trek was fodder for so many memories of canyons and deserts. Acclimatization is coming along. … Continue reading
Hello from Chile
The warm air of Santiago embraced me like a long seen cousin. Having negotiated the throng of humanity just outside the arrival area, I was scooped up by Alexandro. He introduced me to Vance, one of my teammates and we … Continue reading
Off to Chile
There is a rich tapestry that forms the foundation of our lives. It is woven from threads of experience coming together to form patterns, textures, and surprises. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I forget to look for and … Continue reading
Seven Days and Counting
Another week has flown by and I can’t believe I’m on a seven-day count down to Chile. I enjoyed the rest of my stay in Arkansas and then spent a day in Omaha presenting to a Girl Scout conference. After … Continue reading
Ducks, Ducks, Ducks
Seventy-five years ago, two duck hunters returned empty-handed from a hunting trip. They had drowned their sorrows with a little too much whiskey, and decided to play a prank by putting their live duck decoys (legal at that time) in … Continue reading
Posted in Ojos
Tagged AEE, award, ducks, Eyes of the Spirit, More than a Mountain, Ojos
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Happy All Saint’s Boxing Day
It’s the day after, the day after Halloween and I sit marveling (and writing) that the pre-Arkansas to-do list is empty. I board a plane in 6.5 hours. Between now and then, I’ll try to convince my body to make … Continue reading
Posted in Ojos
Tagged Eyes of the Spirit, More than a Mountain, Ojos, training
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Happy Halloween
Time seems to have a life of its own these days and moves along faster than the speed of light. I can’t believe Halloween is just around the corner-wasn’t it just yesterday that I was holding Rayne’s hand as a … Continue reading
Posted in Ojos
Tagged Chile, Csikszentmihalyi, Eyes of the Spirit, Ojos, training
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Ready for the Summit Push
After several acclimatization forays up and down the Khumbu icefall and Western Cwm, Everest climbers return to base camp to rest and fortify before their final push to the summit. The climbers are nervous, tense, and wondering if all the … Continue reading
Posted in Everest 2010, Ojos
Tagged book, Eyes of the Spirit, More than a Mountain, Ojos, training
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Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight.
“Fall down seven times, get up eight.” This is a Japanese proverb that came my way once on a tear-away calendar. Of the 365 sayings that year, this one stuck. As I ran intervals on Signal Hill Tuesday morning and … Continue reading
Happy Thanksgiving to All,
Funny how it works than when you let go of something, the resulting space allows for it to occur. Just when I said, “I want to do as little training as possible for Chile,” I found it within me to … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Ojos
Tagged Eyes of the Spirit, Ojos, training
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A New Expedition: Ojos De Salado!
Happy Dawn of October to All, What a week! It ranged from the summit of celebration to the depths of subterranean suffering. I had hoped to ramp up training as I was only nine weeks away from Ojos but the … Continue reading
Posted in Ojos
Tagged Chile, Eyes of the Spirit, Ojos de Salado, South America
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Everest-007 September 2007
I was battered and bruised by something that does not move. A mountain of epic proportions. In my mind. And out in the world Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Everest-007
Tagged climb, post partum
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Everest-007 August 2007
Acclimitizing 8/9/2007 Hello to All, I can’t believe almost another month has passed. I’ve just wrapped up my intensive summer teaching schedule and I feel like I am surfacing for a breath of air. One of my teammates sent me … Continue reading
Everest-007 July 2007
Rounding the Cape of Post Partum 7/14/2007 Climbing Everest is not just the two months one spends on the mountain; it is the 18 months prior and most likely the 18 months post. I went out on a bike ride … Continue reading
Everest-007 June 2007
Flat Stanley Returns Home 6/14/2007 Six months after Flat Stanley left Woodland Primary School, he gave up his wondering ways and returned home. The energy in the gymnasium was electric as the children filed in and took their seats. After … Continue reading
Posted in Everest-007
Tagged Flat Stanley, grief, Oma, post partum
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Everest-007 May 2007
Blood Doping in Puck Land 5/29/2007 I’m back in the rink playing hockey. I’ve got three games a week on the go this summer. I worried how hard my first game might feel but quickly realized that I must still … Continue reading
Posted in Everest-007
Tagged expedition, Flat Stanley, IMG, Nepal. climb
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Everest-007 April 2007
They Shoot Horses… 4/30/2007 Location: Everest Basecaap Elevation: 5300 Meters Elevation Gain: 0 Meters Weather: Highly variable Quote of the Day: Life is short, things change. At this point of the day, I expected to be writing you from Camp … Continue reading
Posted in Everest-007
Tagged expedition, Flat Stanley, IMG, Nepal
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Everest-007 March 2007
Walking in the footsteps of others 3/31/2007 Flat Stanley at Pumori Flat Stanley in front of Pumori. I am so aware as I trek to Everest Base Camp that I walk in the footsteps of so many others. Camped here … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Everest-007
Tagged expedition, IMG, Nepal
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Everest-007 February 2007
Happy It’s Almost March 2/25/2007 For those of you outside St. John’s, you might not know that we were hammered here by a huge storm on Monday night that brought close to 2 feet of snow overnight. Shoveling was the … Continue reading
Everest-007 January 2007
Another Rich and Full Week 1/27/2007 Another busy week has unfolded on the Road to Everest. I received a gift from my niece in the mail. Rayne is four and a budding artist. She painted me a picture of Mount … Continue reading
Posted in Aconcagua, Buddhism, Everest-007
Tagged Aconcagua, Argentina, CAAWS, Seven Summits
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Everest-007 December 2006
Last Day of the Year 12/31/2006 Hello to All, I’m back in Mendoza after several long days of hiking off the mountain. Thanks so much to all for your kind thoughts and prayers and well wishes. I’m sure they helped … Continue reading
Posted in Aconcagua, Buddhism, Everest-007
Tagged Aconcagua, Argentina, climb, expedition, Seven Summits, training
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