Lydia Bradey ONZM
High Altitude Climber and Motivational Speaker
Lydia Bradey is the first woman to summit Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen and the only New Zealander to have done so twice. A world-renowned mountaineer and motivational speaker, Lydia inspires audiences with stories of resilience, courage, and peak performance, drawing powerful lessons from life at the extremes of the mountains to everyday challenges.
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Lydia Bradey is a world-renowned mountaineer, physiotherapist, and motivational speaker. In 1988, she became the first woman in the world to summit Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen—a feat that remains unmatched by any other New Zealander. She later guided Everest in 2008, becoming one of only three women ever to do so and the only New Zealand woman to climb it twice.
Lydia’s climbing career spans eleven Himalayan expeditions, pioneering first female ascents in Yosemite Valley, and multiple high-altitude achievements on the world’s most challenging peaks. She combines this extraordinary experience with academic qualifications in physiotherapy, acupuncture, and international climbing guide certification to provide unique insights into performance, resilience, and human potential.
Since 1991, Lydia has delivered motivational presentations to corporate audiences, schools, and community groups. Her style is humorous, self-deprecating, enthusiastic, and moving, drawing compelling parallels between life at the extremes of the mountains and everyday challenges. Whether addressing 20 people or 1,000, suit-clad executives or schoolchildren, Lydia inspires clarity, courage, and peak performance.
