Mount Kinabalu is considered to be the highest mountain in South East Asia, although there are higher mountains in Indonesia, on the island of Irian Jaya (Indonesian New Guinea). These include Puncak Jaya, also known as Carstensz Pyramid, which is 4884 metres high. This is generally considered as part of Oceania and is climbed as such by people who like to climb the highest mountain on all of the seven continents.
There are two theories about the origin of the name Kinabalu. The first is that Kinabalu stands for 'Chinese widow' with Kina being a corruption of China and Balu being a commonly-used term for widow in the local languages. The story goes that a Chinese prince visited the region and climbed the mountain. This was either to look for a giant pink pearl or to slay a dragon that was terrorising the neighbourhood, or both of the above. After accomplishing these mighty deeds he fell in love with and married a local girl. He then returned to China, promising to come back for her, but never did. If that's too sad for you, an alternative explanation is that it stands for 'the revered place of dead' in the local language.
The first person to climb the mountain was Sir Hugh Low, a British colonial officer, in 1851. The indigenous peoples of Sabah didn't climb the mountain to the top because they believed that it was sacred and home to mountain spirits. Probably also because they considered it a pointless activity - nothing to eat at 4000 metres after all... He relates that the hardest bit of the expedition was hacking through the jungle from the coast to reach the base of the mountain. During the ascent his local guides required the sacrifice of white cockerels at a regular basis along the trail, in order to appease the mountain spirits. It is now not necessary to strangle one's own chicken, as the sacrifice is performed annually with the appropriate ceremony.
Every year Mount Kinabalu is the scene of a 'climbathon' where very fit men and women run up and down the mountain. In 2002 there were 250 participants from 21 countries. The record for the men is held by Ricardo Mejia from Mexico in a time of 2 hours and 37 minutes. The fastest woman so far is Anna Pichrtova from the Czech Republic in a time of 3 hours and 8 minutes.
Nine British army soldiers had a close shave on the mountain in 1994. They had attempted to abseil down the notorious Low's Gully, a mile-deep cleft down one side of the mountain. A month later they had to be rescued, having apparently survived the last week with no food other than mints...