Two of New Zealand’s most experienced mountaineers
Partners in both life and the mountains, Lydia and Dean live near Wānaka on the shores of Lake Hāwea in Aotearoa New Zealand, alongside their rescue cat.
After decades spent guiding, climbing and skiing in mountains around the world, they created Aotearoa Mountain Guides to offer something more personal, flexible and experience-led.
AMG was built on a shared love of Big Nature - the kind of places that inspire awe, perspective and deep respect.
Whether close to home or deep within remote mountain ranges abroad, AMG’s aim is to help people move confidently through extraordinary landscapes and achieve meaningful objectives.
Between them, they’ve summited Everest 15 times and guided Aoraki / Mount Cook more than 50 times.
About Lydia and Dean
IFMGA International Mountain & Ski Guide
Lydia is the first woman in the world to climb Mt Everest without supplemental oxygen and remains the only Kiwi to do so. She was also the first woman to guide Mt Everest professionally. Over her career, Lydia has made a total of 10 ascents over 8,000m, and been on more than 35 expeditions over 6,000m.
Climbing and ski-touring, both professionally and for her own passion, has taken Lydia to corners of the world such as North America, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, China and the Antarctic Peninsula. Outside of guiding, Lydia also works as a Keynote Speaker and a Physiotherapist.
In 2020 Lydia was awarded the New Zealand title of Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to mountaineering. What Lydia likes best is to pass on the joy of spending time in Big Nature.
Lydia Bradey ONZM
![Dean Staples portrait](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/64c9f4280b342f3fdf0d4cb0/daebca70-9643-4047-a689-701ec5bba789/20201120201126XP2S7908.JPG")
IFMGA International Mountain & Ski Guide
Dean Staples has 35 years of climbing and mountain guiding experience both within New Zealand and internationally. He has successfully guided Everest nine times, and was the first Kiwi to summit Everest from the North and South sides.
In 2013 he climbed Lhotse and Everest together in just over 24 hours, and has a total of 18 8,000m summits under his belt. Closer to home, Dean has over 30 ascents of Aoraki / Mt Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain (and a hard climb!).
For more than a decade he was a Chief Guide for both Harris Mountains Heli-skiing and Adventure Consultants. He spent nine winters in Canada, both patrolling and as lead heli-ski guide. Overall Dean has 25 seasons of heli-skiing leaderships in New Zealand, India and Canada.
Dean passes on his extensive knowledge of the mountains as an assessor for the New Zealand Mountain Guides Association on both the climbing and ski guides courses. He has a great sense of humour and a true and deep love of the mountains.
Dean Staples
The AMG Approach
Aotearoa Mountain Guides offers private guiding for skiing, climbing, trekking and expedition experiences across Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally.
Our bespoke mountain journeys are shaped around the goals, abilities and ambitions of each individual or group. Whether the objective is a first alpine summit, a remote trekking journey, ski touring in wild terrain or an ambitious international expedition, AMG’s approach remains personal, thoughtful and highly tailored.
AMG also provides film safety and logistics support for commercial projects. We bring the deep alpine experience, sound judgement and flexible decision-making these complex and extreme environments require.
“Decades in the mountains has shaped how we guide people.
Our role is to help people find joy by moving confidently through extraordinary landscapes.
We use thoughtful guidance, sound decision-making and a strong commitment to safety at every stage of the journey.”
Career Highlights
Explore the map to discover some of the places we’ve climbed, skied, guided and adventured over the years. You might just find inspiration for your next dream trip.
Our Partners
We’re proud to work alongside trusted partners and internationally recognised organisations across the mountain industry.
