[5][6] In 1987, Bradey reached the summit of Gasherbrum II, thereby becoming the first Australasian woman to climb one of the world's fourteen 8,000 metre peaks.

[7] 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.

[9] Bradey made her second summit climb of Mount Everest in May 2008, twenty years after her first ascent.

[3] In the 2020 New Year Honours, Bradey was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to mountaineering.