The Ski Journal • Volume 15, Issue 2 • COMMUNAL DISCOURSE

Despite several years of struggles with loss, setbacks and mental health, Hadley Hammer has found a silver lining in her mountain community and days like this at Jackson Hole, WY. Photo: Guy Fattal

Writing had always been therapeutic for professional skier Hadley Hammer. It’s how she expressed herself clearest when times were anything but—injuries, heartbreak, an endless and nearly vertigo-inducing travel schedule. But writing became more than therapy when she lost her boyfriend, renowned Austrian mountaineer David Lama, to an avalanche in Canada in 2019.

“The world didn’t play fair,” Hammer says of Lama’s death. With her world spinning off its familiar axis, she shed what was expected of her as a pro skier and role model and found freedom building a new website called Discourse. It started as a place for her to share her thoughts and stories away from the distracting noise of social media, and it ended up giving others the same platform as well.

With the creation of Discourse, Hammer wanted to get as close to a “campfire vibe” as possible in the digital realm, creating a safe space for herself and others to share the more complicated or difficult things they deal with. Those sort of thoughts, she says, need a bit more room to breathe than other platforms could offer.

The site features a free weekly newsletter written by Hammer for the 500-plus Discourse members, and a portion of the site sits behind a paywall where paid subscribers can both read her frequent writings and respond to prompts with their own thoughts and original work. Hammer also includes a direct contact option so that Discourse members can reach out for anything from writing advice to how to make the best chocolate chip cookie.

“[Discourse] rose out of a need to have a different way of communicating and connecting with people beyond social media platforms,” explains Ingrid Backstrom, professional skier and Hammer’s longtime friend. She says Discourse is helpful to the ski community because it fosters deeper conversations, allowing for more vulnerability and honesty in a sport notorious for burying mental health under physical accomplishments.

“I’m sorry, there’s no escaping certain human issues,” says Josh Malczyk, Season Eqpt. brand director and Discourse member. “It’s actually nice that we can discuss things that are ever present [in] every part of society.”

For Hammer herself, small talk following David’s death was a struggle, and even though she wished she could relate to many surface conversations, she also craved something deeper. Writing became part of that deeper connection and developing a new project during uncertain times was an almost-cathartic boost.

“I felt like I was just holding on to life at that point and so building something was a really cool experience,” she says. Starting it from scratch, she was able to create something totally her own, the way she wanted it. After nearly six months spent building the website, Hammer launched Discourse in November of 2020, a moment she says was similar to pushing out the start gate of a freeride competition.

Since then, nearly 500 people have signed up for the free newsletter and another 115 are paying members. It’s a little over a quarter of the way to her goal of 400 subscribers, which is where she will likely cap paid membership to keep the Discourse community intimate and safe. It’s also enough to keep the lights on and take the focus off of finding outside funding and pouring it into the community.

Once her platform is full, Hammer hopes other pro athletes might undertake similar projects. In her mind, Discourse is a model that can allow people to open up and express their full human complexities and experiences online instead of lingering at the surface level that so often leaves us feeling isolated.

When you stop having small talk,” she says. “You start having really cool big talks.”

The Ski Journal - Volume 15, Issue 2

COMMUNAL DISCOURSE

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