T.A. Loeffler rethinking Mount Everest climb after Sherpa deaths

A professor at Memorial University in St. John's says she's rethinking her quest to reach the peak of Mount Everest.

T.A. Loeffler was in Nepal in April when she heard news about the deaths of 16 Nepalese Sherpa guides on the summit.

Loeffler said she was planning a second attempt at scaling the world's highest mountain next year, but now she's torn.

"[It] absolutely gives me pause. I had been pretty much gearing up for 2015 and I'm thinking about it — I'm thinking about it hard," said Loeffler.

"I'm thinking about, you know, what is my role in placing people in greater danger than myself. And on the other hand I'm also aware of how the Sherpas who are able to participate in that work can feed their families in a way that's very different when that work exists."

The climb was planned as part of Leoffler's Great Big Walk, an adventure trekking across approximately 600 kilometres in the Himalayas.

Loeffler has climbed many of the world's mountains, but the peak of Everest has thus far eluded her.