Michael Gabbianelli
AMGA Single Pitch Instructor
City: Englewood
Province: CO
Bio: It has been a long road of experiences that has brought me here to the NSCD. Born in Canada and raised in Michigan it was not until my late high school career that I discovered climbing. Since then I yearned to experience the natural world around me and began seeking out different ways to explore it. I was on a sea kayaking trip in Ontario Canada when I realized how enriching and therapeutic outdoor activities are and that I wanted to devote my life to sharing this passion and these experiences with others. This realization led me to Northern Michigan University in Marquette Michigan where I attained a degree in Outdoor Recreation Leadership and Management as well as furthering my outdoor experience in areas such as rock/ice climbing, backpacking, and boating. As a climbing/backpacking guide in Yosemite, California, I fell in love with the large mountain ranges of the west and knew I had to explore more of the ranges in this beautiful country of ours. This led me to Colorado where I spent two seasons in the Vail Valley exploring the high country. After my second season I was ready to explore different kinds of service growing up with a parent with a disability has always made me passionate about helping others achieve things they never thought possible. This passion led me to a special needs school called Laradon in metro Denver that serves students with developmental disabilities. I spent 3 years at this school as a para-educator working one on one with students of all kinds and during this time my passion and love for working with this population only grew and grew but my love for the outdoors was never far behind. Although I loved working with the students at Laradon I longed to be in the outdoors facilitating recreation experiences. This led me to the Colorado Outward Bound School where I was an Instructor for one summer season and had the opportunity to lead many backpacking, mountaineering, and rock climbing trips. Throughout my time at COBS I learned about how to be a more effective guide and instructor. And although I loved my work at COBS it felt as though it was missing something important to me. It was then that I realized that I desired to share my outdoor passions with people of all types of abilities. I realized that my passions were not mutually exclusive and people of all abilities can draw from the outdoor experiences that have always been so therapeutic and enlightening to me and so many others. I consider myself a lucky man to be able to have the opportunity to combine my passions in such a way and have the opportunity to share them with so many. All these experiences and adventures culminate into every day I take a new group out and every individual I have the pleasure of guiding. It reminds of a time when I was climbing with an NSCD athlete in Eldorado State Park and he was sure he couldn’t do it so I decided to climb up a rope next to him and give him a little one on one coaching as I advised him I could see the confidence begin to grow inside him and soon I was unable to keep up and he was climbing as if he had done it hundreds of times before. When he reached the top he looked back at me and I could see the awe in his eyes of where he had made it and at what he had just accomplished. These moments are what keep me at Guiding and I hope to share many more like it with future athletes.
Countries
States
Certifications
- AMGA Single Pitch Instructor
Specialities
AMGA: American Mountain Guides Association
The American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) is a 501(c)(3) educational non‐profit that is dedicated to supporting the American mountain guiding community. Their mission is to be the leader in education, standards, and advocacy for professional guides and climbing instructors.
As the leading organization of America’s most vibrant, inspiring community of climbers and skiers, the AMGA offers you cutting edge knowledge and hundreds of years of collective experience that you won’t get from any other climbing organization.