Mount Kailash Remains Officially Unclimbed

Mount Kailash, a sacred peak near the northern edge of the Himalayas in Tibet, has no recorded successful ascent. The mountain holds religious importance in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Bon, and the Chinese government prohibits climbing it because of that significance. In the mid-1980s, the Chinese government offered Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner an opportunity to climb it, but he declined, saying, "If we conquer this mountain, then we conquer something in people's souls. I would suggest they go and climb something a little harder." Authorities also denied a Spanish team's request in 2001, leaving the summit officially untouched.

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