This adventure seeker is teaching other women how to get outdoors and enjoy it

The more TA Loeffler hears the term "outdoors," the less it makes sense.

The lifelong St. John's outdoorswoman remembers something one of her colleagues from Iceland said to her: "He always says, 'What is this 'doors'? What are you talking about? Outdoors, there's no doors,' he says." She says he suggests a different term: "out under the sky."

Known in Newfoundland and Labrador for her high-altitude climbing, long kayak expeditions, and dragging tires up Signal Hill, Loeffler has a clear preference what's known as "type-2" fun, she said the kind where "when you look back on it, you're glad you did it but at the time it wasn't terribly fun," she says. It's those moments of accomplishment that give us resilience to press on when times get tough, she says.

Growing up with what she calls a "free-range childhood," Loeffler said her parents were the type that let her out in the morning and told her to come back for dinner time.

But she says hers isn't as common an experience for women and gender non-conforming people as it is for their male counterparts. Having worked in the field of outdoor education for most of her life, Loeffler says sometimes it's just about showing people how to have fun with it.

"It's one of my greatest joys to share how to go outdoors and have fun, how to have it be enjoyable because a lot of times when people get exposed to being outside, depending on how they're taught, it might not be enjoyable and to really connect with being out here," she says.

It's her love for showing people the ropes that has brought Loeffler to volunteer with the Becoming an Outdoors Woman workshop each year for the last 28 years. BOW hosts outdoors skills training sessions multiple times a year, with a weekend-long workshop each fall.

Over the three-day event, women and non-binary people of all ages can sign up for activities like camping 101, foraging and trapshooting. All activities are taught at intro levels to maximize inclusivity and have people leave with a feeling of self-sufficiency.

"We often hear from folks who go outdoors with their partners that it's pretty easy to fall into particular roles, like. 'I always paddle in the front and they paddle in the back' and that's all great, it's efficient," she says.

"But what happens if suddenly that person in the back can't paddle in the back, [if] something goes wrong and you have to be able to paddle in the back?"

Beyond technical skill, Loeffler says the importance of acquiring outdoor education lies in its benefits to our health and wellness, as well as the power of community building.

"That's another really key aspect of why I've been so committed to being an instructor at Becoming an Outdoors Woman is to give parents, moms, aunts and grandparents the skills to be able to offer those activities to their young folk," she says. "Because if we start young, it is much more likely to become a lifelong activity."

This year's Becoming an Outdoors Woman workshop will take place near Lewisporte in early September, with registration open via Salmonier Nature Park.

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