Writer. Skier. And a whole lot more. Hadley Hammer brings the light on this episode of the podcast. Photo: Sophie Danison.

 

As Hadley Hammer takes a bow and moves on from performance skiing, she’s beginning to focus on her writing and helping others find their voice. We are glad to have her as our guest on the podcast.

 

Retirement. It is a word with notes of one chapter solidly shutting down and, with good fortune, another opening up—a transition in chapters we expect to manifest later in life.

Hadley Hammer, in her late thirties, is in such a transition. Hammer sent out a notice today, Feb. 17th, marking her retirement from performance skiing. In other words, from being a pro skier.

In her retirement statement, she writes, “I am walking away from peak performance, but not from the mountains nor the outdoor community and certainly not from skiing, which I still think is the most delightful way to spend time. My aim isto take all my experience, be it growing up and living in mountain towns to professional athletics, and combine them with my love and adoration of storytelling. I want to use my words to shape culture and habits. To celebrate play, delight, partnerships, and the natural world.”

At The High Route, we primarily know Hammer as a fine writer. Someone whose sentences take time to craft and whose narrative arcs speak truths. She’s got a solid essay on fashion style in the backcountry in issue 1 of The High Route magazine. (For more of Hammer’s writing on style, check out her Substack, TOGS.

For someone soon to be pushing into her fourth decade, Hammer has lived a full-spectrum existence. And we explore those ups and downs (but mostly the ups) in this episode. We are grateful for her time and look forward to working with her in the future.

For now, we’ll link to a snazzy short-film released today, filmed and produced by Sophie Danison, titled Fortune.“Fortune is a short film—an incantation to see our own fortune by observing closely the beauty of the world around you.”

Also, on the podcast, Hammer chats about a spine she skied back in the day. Here’s a link to that spicy video.

Thanks for listening, and have a good day,

The High Route Team.