Going Up is Easy

by Lydia Bradey, Laurence Fearnley

In 1988, Lydia Bradey became the first woman to climb Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen. She made the ascent alone and to date she is the only New Zealander to have made an oxygen-free ascent. Her climb was a truly remarkable achievement but also an internationally controversial one.

Going Up is Easy details for the first time the events surrounding Bradey's historic feat, as well as her many hair-raising expeditions through Alaska, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, India, China, Europe, and New Zealand.

In the spirit of John Krakauer's Into Thin Air or Joe Simpson's Touching the Void, Going Up is Easy celebrates a life lived on the edge. Through her stories, we encounter a woman propelled by curiosity and passion to become one of the greatest female high-altitude adventurers of recent times.

Co-written with acclaimed novelist Laurence Fearnley, a long-time friend of Bradey, and stunningly illustrated throughout, Going Up is Easy is a life story by turns dramatic, tender, funny, frank and inspiring.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Mountaineering, Adventure, Outdoors

272 pages, Paperback

First published May 29, 2015

About the author

Lydia Bradey is one of Australasia's foremost high-altitude mountaineers. Beginning her alpine career in the 1970s, she made her first ascent of Aoraki/Mount Cook while still a teenager. Following her dream to become a climber, she travelled to Alaska, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan, where, in 1987, she became the first Australasian woman to climb an 8000-metre peak, Gasherbrum 2. In 1988, she made a historic ascent of Mount Everest, becoming the first woman to reach the summit without supplementary oxygen. Employed as a professional mountain guide, she has made two further ascents of Everest as well as climbed and guided extensively throughout Nepal, Pakistan, Antarctica, South America, Africa and Europe. She lives at Lake Hawea, Otago, with her partner — and fellow mountain guide — Dean Staples.

Reviews

[Sunflower · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going up certainly seems easy for this remarkable woman- though it seems that going down doesn't cause her any problems either. The book is about a number of her ascents and challenges, and what comes through is her love of mountains, high places and climbing in general. I remember well the controversy (which was largely generated by others) when she climbed Everest without oxygen, and until I read this I didn't know who to believe. She is very candid about the relationships and politics in the climbing/mountaineering fraternity, and how she frequently broke the rules. She does not downplay the risks of the climbs themselves, or the other medical problems of altitude. Great to have a woman's voice to add to the genre.

[Alina White]

I looked up Bradey's Wikipedia article after finishing the book, to see what she'd been climbing recently, and instead found this:

Bradey's personal life was reviewed in the book Lydia Bradey: Going Up is Easy by Laurence Fearnley. In the book she discusses her ill-fated marriage to a man named Sam, other romantic relationships, climbing relationships, shoulder surgeries and personal finances.

Wow, okay. I guess if you ignore the 80% of the book that's about climbing and mountaineering you could come to that conclusion.

[Amelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was way too young to pay any attention to the "scandal" of the oxygen free Everest climb (I was barely in primary school), but I do know that as a young adult, involved in the outdoors community, my male friends were obsessed with the epics of Rob and Gary.
the interpersonal conflict between Lydia and Rob in particular, as shown in this book, casts them in a very different light. The way the whole NZAC approached Lydia's accomplishment on Everest is very telling of just how much it was still a boys club.
To be frank, it still was into the early 2000's. Very few of the amazingly competent women outdoors people I knew moved into mountaineering, beyond the levels a basic snow craft course would teach you. It has massively improved more recently and I know some very active climbers and alpinists.
Thanks Lydia for being such a one as to show it was possible.

[Dena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Requested this book from the library after hearing it mentioned on the Climbing Gold podcast. I was looking for a good climbing adventure book, and this was just what I needed. Lydia Bradey is an inspiration. Her story kept me at the edge of my seat wanting to know what adventure she got up to next.

[Selina Vink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gets a bit repetitive in the last chapters but overall a great read, especially the chapters about Everest.

[Emily Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting story of Lydia’s journey on becoming a climber and the challenges she faced once she summit Mt Everest!

[Judith Tyras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Eye opener as to how tough it was for women to be accepted into mountaineering

[Gussie Gould · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lydia is such an inspiring story teller not just because she has survived and achieved so much, but in the way that she delivers her stories with humour, suspense and a hint of mischievousness. She makes me proud to be a girl from Christchurch with a passion for the mountains and outdoors. I'm grateful to have met her and to have spent a week together ski touring the glaciers near Mt Cook.