(en) Tom Joyce, The Throne of Shiva, AFAR magazine : « There were rumours, nearly a decade ago, that the legendary Austrian mountaineer Reinhold Messner had surreptitiously planned to bag Kailash, a task which he certainly had the skill and resources to accomplish. But when Messner saw the Precious Mountain for himself, he realized what a desecration it would be to set crampons on its face or boots on its summit. He's since become a vocal proponent of keeping Kailash off-limits to climbers in perpetuity. »
(en) [PDF] Lawrence S. Hamilton, When the Sacred Encounters Economic development in Mountains, The George Wright Forum, vol. 32, No 2, 2015, p. 132-140, en part. p. 134-135 : « The celebrated mountaineer Reinhold Messner attempted summitting Kailas in 1985, but self-aborted when its sanctity was strongly pointed out. »
China allows assault on Mt. Kailash, The Observer, 1er avril 2001 : « The Observer has learned that this is not the first time the Chinese have tried to attract western mountaineers to climb Mount Kailash. In the mid 1980s, the Italian climber Reinhold Messner sought permission to walk around the peak, then heavily restricted by the Chinese. Walking around Kailash is a common practice among Buddhist devotees who believe that 108 circuits will lead the pilgrim to nirvana. In his letter of permission Messner was formally told he could return the following year to climb the mountain: "Of course I refused. It would not have been intelligent to do otherwise." »
(en) China to ban expeditions on Mt Kailash, The Times of India, 7 juin 2001 : « China has told India that it would not allow mountaineering activities on Mt Kailash in Tibet which is considered sacred by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains. "The Chinese government has already formally clarified to the Indian embassy in Beijing," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said while refuting as "totally baseless" Indian and western media reports that Beijing had granted permission to a Spanish mountaineering team to climb Mt Kailash [...] We have never permitted such activities and all these reports about China agreeing to a Spanish mountaineering team to scale Mt Kailash are totally baseless," he said. »
