TA Loeffler recovering from mountain sickness after Everest airlift

A St. John's adventurer and university professor says it's too soon to say if she'll attempt to climb MountEverest for afourth time after being airlifted from the famous mountain earlier this month.

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"It's a huge fundraising and a huge training effort so I would peg it at about 50 per cent [likelihood] at this point," TALoeffler told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show.

Loeffler, who has climbed "six and four-fifths" of the world's seven tallest summits, said this was the first time she's experienced such severe mountain sickness.

"Whenever you don't feel good in the mountains, the answer is down," she said.

"When I had to give up my pack when I was struggling, I knew that was hint number one."

Loeffler said the sickness came on after she and her team climbed to camp three, one camp away from the summit.

The illness, she said, was a combination of "high-altitude pulmonary edema, which is swelling in your lungs, and maybe a little [high-altitude cerebral edema] which is a little swelling in your brain."

The most dangerous part

It was on her way back to base camp on May 8that Loeffler said the team arranged to have an air ambulance "pluck" her off the mountain.

"I realized that I didn't want my teammates to have to help me through the ice fall that's the most dangerous thing on the south route and I was moving so slowly, so we elected to call for some help to get me out," she said.

The KhumbuIcefall is a steep glacier full of deep crevasses.

Loeffler estimatedit takes climbers six to eight hours to pass through the treacherous area, all the while keeping an eye out for falling ice or a potential avalanche.

"It can go south very quickly so it's one that we take very seriously and it can come out of the blue."

'Oxygen drunk'

Loeffler said she didn't feel "that bad" when she first arrived at the hospital in Kathmandu. She described feeling "almost oxygen drunk" once she'd reached a lower altitude.

"But then once I got out of the hospital, I think that's when the exhaustion and the physical toll hit more," she said.

Loeffler said she "kept holding out hope" she'd be able to return to her team and finish the climb, but soon learned that the team had progressed faster than anticipated and meeting up wouldn't be possible.

The climber recorded her expedition in an online blog, postedaudio entries from base camp and even fieldedquestions from students back home.

"It's an amazing experience. I love taking students and teachers and the whole province with me."