Gabrielle moved to Portland in 2022 and is no stranger to the mountains, having been a committee chair, trip leader, and course instructor for The Mountaineers in Washington state and mountain steward for the U.S. Forest Service and the Mount St. Helen’s Institute. When not leading hikes and activities for the Mazamas, Gabrielle has leveraged her PhD in Italian and other studies, working as an educator, program manager, and project coordinator for organizations like the University of Washington, Bellevue College, and Lake Washington Institute of Technology.
Name: Gabrielle Orsi
Pronouns: she/her
Year Joined Mazamas: 2022
Present-day outdoor activities: Trail running & fastpacking, backpacking, hiking, backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, some mountaineering … and recently I took a class on mushroom foraging! I’m also a Leave No Trace trainer and so I’m often “plogging.”
What’s your earliest outdoor memory? Playing in the yard of my childhood home in Encinitas, California, in the sunshine.
How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? When my spouse and I relocated to Oregon from the Seattle area in 2022, a number of folks mentioned the Mazamas as a resource for getting outdoors, especially if we were interested in climbing Mt. Hood. The mission appeals to me, and I’ve been enjoying connecting with the Mazama community, both as a hike leader and as a member of the Queerzamas affinity group.
As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? A little preparation goes a long way and “hike your own hike”—do what you find engaging and interesting. Don’t worry if other people have different approaches.
What activities/situations/people most inspire you? People who strive for excellence but also have a philosophy that is focused on growth, self-actualization, and fun, not just winning or peak-bagging, inspire me—like Eliud Kipchoge, Des Linden, Catra Corbett (DirtDiva), Yassine Diboun, Kara Goucher, Mike Wardian … the list goes on!
What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? Pick one. I earned my PhD in Italian in 2008 and spent years teaching Italian, so I have to say Dante’s Divine Comedy is always going to be #1 for me. I actually have a tattoo of a quote from that poem. Plus there’s actually a lot of mountain climbing in the Divine Comedy!
What’s on your adventure bucket list? So many things! I would enjoy visiting Nepal, South America, and the Alps but closer to home I’d like to do a winter circumnavigation of Crater Lake and a winter rim-to-rim of the Grand Canyon from the North Rim.