Lydia Pounamu Bradey (born 9 October 1961) is a New Zealand
mountaineer
Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...
. She became the first woman to summit
Mount Everest
Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...
without
supplemental oxygen
A breathing apparatus or breathing set is equipment which allows a person to breathe in a hostile environment where breathing would otherwise be impossible, difficult, harmful, or hazardous, or assists a person to breathe. A respirator, medical v ...
in 1988. She has climbed
Mount Everest
Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...
a total of six times.
Early life
Lydia Bradey was born to Royce and John Bradey in
Christchurch
Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
, New Zealand. Her father was absent for most of her childhood, and she and her mother struggled financially.
Bradey took up mountain climbing as a teenager; she went on her first wilderness expedition at the age of 14, and by 17 she had climbed to the summits of
Mount Cook and
Mount Aspiring.
During this time she regularly climbed with her friend
Rob Hall, and later met his friend
Gary Ball.
[ When she was 19, Bradey left New Zealand for a four-year international climbing trip, which included an attempt on ]Denali
Denali (), federally designated as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the tallest mountain in the world from base to peak on land, measuring . On p. 20 of Helm ...
in Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
and ten ascents of Yosemite
Yosemite National Park ( ) is a national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service ...
's big walls, seven of which were the first ascents by a female.[
]
Mountain climbing career
In 1987, Bradey reached the summit of Gasherbrum II
Gasherbrum II (; ; ); surveyed as K4, is the 13th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is the third-highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, and is located in the Karakoram, on the border between Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan and ...
, thereby becoming the first Australasian woman to climb one of the world's fourteen 8,000 metre peaks.[ The climb proved controversial since Bradey was climbing on a permit for the adjacent ]Gasherbrum I
Gasherbrum I, originally surveyed as K5, and also known as Hidden Peak, is the 11th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is located between Shigar District in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan and Tashkurgan in the Xi ...
(a peak she had abandoned in favour of Gasherbrum II due to bad weather), making her ascent illegal.[ In October 1988, Bradey successfully solo climbed ]Mount Everest
Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...
, making her the first female to reach the summit without supplemental oxygen, as well as the first New Zealand female and the youngest New Zealander at the time. This ascent, like the previous year on Gasherbrum II, broke rules agreed with the Nepalese. Bradey did not have a permit for the route she climbed, and to avoid being banned from the mountain, her teammates Rob Hall and Gary Ball said she had not reached the summit. When the Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
ese government threatened Bradey with a 10-year climbing ban, she too retracted her claim of a successful ascent, only to reassert her claim to the summit later.[
In 1994, Bradey graduated from the ]University of Auckland
The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...
with a degree in physiotherapy. She completed a certificate of acupuncture
Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientif ...
in 1998 and became an International Mountain & Ski Guide (IFMGA) in 2000. Since then she has worked as an alpine guide based in Wānaka
Wānaka () is a popular ski and summer resort town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. At the southern end of Lake Wānaka, it is at the start of the Clutha River and is the gateway to Mount Aspiring National Park.
Wānaka ...
. Bradey made her second summit climb of Mount Everest in May 2008, twenty years after her first ascent. She climbed as a guide for a group of clients under the outfitter Adventure Consultants
Adventure Consultants, formerly Hall and Ball Adventure Consultants, is a New Zealand-based adventure company that brings trekking and climbing groups to various locations. Founded by Rob Hall and Gary Ball in 1991, it helped pioneer the com ...
(AC).[ In 2013, 2016 and 2018 Bradey made her third to fifth ascents of Everest, again as an AC guide; in 2019 she guided Everest for the sixth time, from Tibet, China for an American company Alpenglow Expeditions.]
In the 2020 New Year Honours
The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...
, Bradey was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to mountaineering.
Personal life
Bradey lives in Lake Hāwea, Otago
Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...
with her partner Dean Staples. Bradey was the subject of a biography, ''Lydia Bradey: Going Up is Easy'', by Laurence Fearnley.
Further reading
*Book
Going Up is Easy by Lydia Bradey, Laurence Fearnley
See also
*
*List of Mount Everest guides
This is a list of notable Mount Everest guides, which are professional mountaineers (and mountaineering firms) who help people to ascend Mount Everest in the Himalayas in return for fees. Previously, the summit was only accessible to expert mounta ...
* List of Mount Everest records
* Francys Arsentiev
* Melissa Arnot (Summited Mount Everest without bottled oxygen in 2016)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradey, Lydia
Living people
New Zealand female climbers
New Zealand summiters of Mount Everest
People from Christchurch
1961 births
Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit
20th-century New Zealand sportswomen