Dyatlov Pass incident
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The Dyatlov Pass incident (russian: , ) was an event in which nine
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
hikers died in the northern
Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...
between February 1 and 2, 1959, in uncertain circumstances. The experienced trekking group from the Ural Polytechnical Institute, led by Igor Dyatlov, had established a camp on the eastern slopes of
Kholat Syakhl Kholat Syakhl, a transliteration of Mansi Holatchahl meaning "dead mountain"Eichar, Donnie ''Dead Mountain: The True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident'' (Chronicle Books, October 22, 2013, ), p. 19. or "silent peak", is a mountain in the northern ...
in the
Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. Overnight, something caused them to cut their way out of their tent and flee the campsite while inadequately dressed for the heavy snowfall and sub-zero temperatures. After the group's bodies were discovered, an investigation by
Soviet authorities The Government of the Soviet Union ( rus, Прави́тельство СССР, p=prɐˈvʲitʲɪlʲstvə ɛs ɛs ɛs ˈɛr, r=Pravítelstvo SSSR, lang=no), formally the All-Union Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly ab ...
determined that six of them had died from
hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe h ...
while the other three had been killed by
physical trauma An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, ...
. One victim had major skull damage, two had severe chest trauma, and another had a small crack in his skull. Four of the bodies were found lying in running water in a creek, and three of these four had damaged
soft tissue Soft tissue is all the tissue in the body that is not hardened by the processes of ossification or calcification such as bones and teeth. Soft tissue connects, surrounds or supports internal organs and bones, and includes muscle, tendons, ligam ...
of the head and face two of the bodies had missing eyes, one had a missing tongue, and one had missing eyebrows. The investigation concluded that a "compelling natural force" had caused the deaths. Numerous theories have been put forward to account for the unexplained deaths, including animal attacks, hypothermia, an
avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earth ...
,
katabatic wind A katabatic wind (named from the Greek word κατάβασις ''katabasis'', meaning "descending") is a drainage wind, a wind that carries high-density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. Such winds are sometim ...
s,
infrasound Infrasound, sometimes referred to as low status sound, describes sound waves with a frequency below the lower limit of human audibility (generally 20 Hz). Hearing becomes gradually less sensitive as frequency decreases, so for humans to perce ...
-induced panic,
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
involvement, or some combination of these factors.
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
opened a new investigation into the incident in 2019, and its conclusions were presented in July 2020: that an avalanche had led to the deaths. Survivors of the avalanche had been forced to suddenly leave their camp in low-visibility conditions with inadequate clothing, and had died of hypothermia. Andrey Kuryakov, deputy head of the regional prosecutor's office, said: "It was a heroic struggle. There was no panic. But they had no chance to save themselves under the circumstances." A study led by scientists from EPFL and
ETH Zürich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...
, published in 2021, suggested that a type of avalanche known as a
slab avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earth ...
could explain some of the trekkers' injuries. A mountain pass in the area was later named "Dyatlov Pass" in memory of the group. In many languages, the incident is now referred to as the "Dyatlov Pass incident". However, the incident occurred about away, on the eastern slope of
Kholat Syakhl Kholat Syakhl, a transliteration of Mansi Holatchahl meaning "dead mountain"Eichar, Donnie ''Dead Mountain: The True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident'' (Chronicle Books, October 22, 2013, ), p. 19. or "silent peak", is a mountain in the northern ...
. A prominent rock outcrop in the area now serves as a memorial to the group. It is located about to the east-southeast of the actual site of the final camp.


Background

In 1959, a group was formed for a skiing expedition across the northern Urals in
Sverdlovsk Oblast Sverdlovsk Oblast ( rus, Свердловская область, Sverdlovskaya oblast) is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia located in the Ural Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Yekaterinburg, formerly known as S ...
,
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. According to Prosecutor Tempalov, documents that were found in the tent of the expedition suggest that the expedition was named for the
21st Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The 21st Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union took place in Moscow, USSR 27 January - 5 February 1959. It was a mid-term or "Extraordinary" Congress, timed so that Khrushchev could try to consolidate his power over rivals after the ...
and was possibly dispatched by the local
Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...
organisation. Igor Dyatlov, a 23-year-old radio engineering student at the Ural Polytechnical Institute (now
Ural Federal University la, Cogitare, agere, consequi! , mottoeng = ''Think, act, achieve!'' , established = 1920 (established), 2011 (integrated) , closed = , type = Public , affiliation = , endowment = RU ...
), was the leader, who assembled a group of nine others for the trip, most of whom were fellow students and peers at the university. The initial group consisted of eight men and two women, but as noted below one member started the hike but later turned back due to health issues. Each member of the group was an experienced
Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
-hiker with ski tour experience and would be receiving Grade III certification upon their return. At the time, Grade III was the highest certification available in the Soviet Union and required candidates to traverse . The route was designed by Dyatlov's group to reach the far northern regions of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the upper-streams of the
Lozva The Lozva (russian: Лозьва; Mansi: Лусум-я̄, ''Lusum-jā'') is a river in Sverdlovsk Oblast in Russia. At its confluence with the Sosva, the Tavda is formed. The river is long, and its basin covers . The river freezes up in Octobe ...
river.Information about the Dyatlov group expedition (Информация о походе гр. Дятлова)
Hibinaud.
The route was approved by the Sverdlovsk city route commission. This was a division of the Sverdlovsk Committee of Physical Culture and Sport, and they confirmed the group of 10 people on January 8, 1959. The goal of the expedition was to reach Otorten (), a mountain north of the site where the incident occurred. This route, estimated as a Category III, was undertaken in February, the most difficult time to traverse. On 23 January 1959, the Dyatlov group was issued their route book, which listed their course as following the No.5 trail. At that time, the Sverdlovsk City Committee of Physical Culture and Sport listed approval for 11 people. The 11th person listed was Semyon Zolotaryov, who was previously certified to go with another expedition of similar difficulty (the Sogrin expedition group). The Dyatlov group left the Sverdlovsk city (today
Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...
) on the same day they received the route book.


Expedition

The group arrived by train at
Ivdel Ivdel (russian: Ивдель; Mansi: Сапсаус, ''Sapsayas'') is a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Ivdel River ( Ob's basin) near its confluence with the Lozva River, north of Yekaterinburg, the administrative center of ...
(), a town at the centre of the northern province of Sverdlovsk Oblast in the early morning hours of January 25, 1959. They then took a truck to Vizhai (), a lorry village that is the last inhabited settlement to the north. While spending the night in Vizhai, the skiers purchased and ate loaves of bread to keep their energy levels up for the following day's hike. On January 27, they began their trek toward Gora Otorten. On January 28, one member, Yuri Yudin, who had several health ailments (including
rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including art ...
and a
congenital heart defect A congenital heart defect (CHD), also known as a congenital heart anomaly and congenital heart disease, is a defect in the structure of the heart or great vessels that is present at birth. A congenital heart defect is classed as a cardiovascular ...
) turned back due to knee and joint pain that made him unable to continue the hike. The remaining eight hikers continued the trek. Diaries and cameras found around their last campsite made it possible to track the group's route up to the day preceding the incident. On 31 January, the group arrived at the edge of a highland area and began to prepare for climbing. In a wooded valley, they cached surplus food and equipment that would be used for the trip back. The next day, the hikers started to move through the pass. It seems they planned to get over the pass and make camp for the next night on the opposite side, but because of worsening weather conditions—snowstorms and decreasing visibility—they lost their direction and deviated west, toward the top of
Kholat Syakhl Kholat Syakhl, a transliteration of Mansi Holatchahl meaning "dead mountain"Eichar, Donnie ''Dead Mountain: The True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident'' (Chronicle Books, October 22, 2013, ), p. 19. or "silent peak", is a mountain in the northern ...
. When they realised their mistake, the group decided to set up camp there on the slope of the mountain, rather than move downhill to a forested area that would have offered some shelter from the weather. Yudin speculated, "Dyatlov probably did not want to lose the altitude they had gained, or he decided to practice camping on the mountain slope."


Search and discovery

Before leaving, Dyatlov had agreed he would send a
telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
to their sports club as soon as the group returned to Vizhai. It was expected that this would happen no later than 12 February, but Dyatlov had told Yudin, before he departed from the group, that he expected it to be longer. When the 12th passed and no messages had been received, there was no immediate reaction, as delays of a few days were common with such expeditions. On 20 February, the travellers' relatives demanded a rescue operation, and the head of the institute sent the first rescue groups, consisting of volunteer students and teachers. Later, the army and
militsiya ''Militsiya'' ( rus, милиция, , mʲɪˈlʲitsɨjə) was the name of the police forces in the Soviet Union (until 1991) and in several Eastern Bloc countries (1945–1992), as well as in the non-aligned SFR Yugoslavia (1945–1992). The ...
(police) forces became involved, with planes and helicopters ordered to join the operation. On 26 February, the searchers found the group's abandoned and badly damaged tent on
Kholat Syakhl Kholat Syakhl, a transliteration of Mansi Holatchahl meaning "dead mountain"Eichar, Donnie ''Dead Mountain: The True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident'' (Chronicle Books, October 22, 2013, ), p. 19. or "silent peak", is a mountain in the northern ...
. The campsite baffled the search party. Mikhail Sharavin, the student who found the tent, said "the tent was half torn down and covered with snow. It was empty, and all the group's belongings and shoes had been left behind." Investigators said the tent had been cut open from inside. Nine sets of footprints, left by people wearing only socks or a single shoe or even barefoot, could be followed, leading down to the edge of a nearby wood, on the opposite side of the pass, to the north-east. After these tracks were covered with snow. At the forest's edge, under a large
Siberian pine ''Pinus sibirica'', or Siberian pine, in the family Pinaceae is a species of pine tree that occurs in Siberia from 58°E in the Ural Mountains east to 126°E in the Stanovoy Range in southern Sakha Republic, and from Igarka at 68°N in the lower ...
, the searchers found the visible remains of a small fire. There were the first two bodies, those of Krivonischenko and Doroshenko, shoeless and dressed only in underwear. The branches on the tree were broken up to five meters high, suggesting that one of the skiers had climbed up to look for something, perhaps the camp. Between the pine and the camp, the searchers found three more corpses: Dyatlov, Kolmogorova, and Slobodin, who died in poses suggesting that they were attempting to return to the tent. They were found at distances of from the tree. Finding the remaining four travelers took more than two months. They were finally found on 4 May under of snow in a ravine further into the woods from the pine tree. Three of the four were better dressed than the others, and there were signs that some clothing of those who had died first had been removed for use by the others. Dubinina was wearing Krivonishenko's burned, torn trousers, and her left foot and shin were wrapped in a torn jacket.


Investigation

A legal inquest started immediately after the first five bodies were found. A medical examination found no injuries that might have led to their deaths, and it was concluded that they had all died of
hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe h ...
. Slobodin had a small crack in his skull, but it was not thought to be a fatal wound. An examination of the four bodies found in May shifted the narrative of the incident. Three of the hikers had fatal injuries: Thibeaux-Brignolles had major skull damage, and Dubinina and Zolotaryov had major chest fractures. According to Boris Vozrozhdenny, the force required to cause such damage would have been extremely high, comparable to that of a car crash. Notably, the bodies had no external wounds associated with the bone fractures, as if they had been subjected to a high level of pressure. All four bodies found at the bottom of the creek in a running stream of water had soft tissue damage to their head and face. For example, Dubinina was missing her tongue, eyes, part of the lips, as well as facial tissue and a fragment of skullbone, while Zolotaryov had his eyeballs missing, and Aleksander Kolevatov his eyebrows. V. A. Vozrozhdenny, the forensic expert performing the
post-mortem examination An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any dis ...
, judged that these injuries happened post-mortem due to the location of the bodies in a stream. There was initial speculation that the indigenous
Mansi people The Mansi (Mansi: Мāньси / Мāньси мāхум, ''Māńsi / Māńsi māhum'', ) are a Ugric indigenous people living in Khanty–Mansia, an autonomous okrug within Tyumen Oblast in Russia. In Khanty–Mansia, the Khanty and Mansi lan ...
, reindeer herders local to the area, had attacked and murdered the group for encroaching upon their lands. Several Mansi were interrogated, but the investigation indicated that the nature of the deaths did not support this hypothesis: only the hikers' footprints were visible, and they showed no sign of hand-to-hand struggle. Although the temperature was very low, around with a storm blowing, the dead were only partially dressed. Some had only one shoe, while others wore only socks. Some were found wrapped in snips of ripped clothes that seemed to have been cut from those who were already dead. Journalists reporting on the available parts of the inquest files claim that it states: * Six of the group members died of hypothermia and three of fatal injuries. * There were no indications of other people nearby on Kholat Syakhl apart from the nine travelers. * The tent had been ripped open from within. * The victims had died six to eight hours after their last meal. * Traces from the camp showed that all group members left the campsite of their own accord, on foot. * Some levels of radiation were found on one victim's clothing. * To dispel the theory of an attack by the indigenous Mansi people, Vozrozhdenny stated that the fatal injuries of the three bodies could not have been caused by human beings, "because the force of the blows had been too strong and no soft tissue had been damaged". * Released documents contained no information about the condition of the skiers' internal organs. * There were no survivors. At the time, the official conclusion was that the group members had died because of a compelling natural force. The inquest officially ceased in May 1959 as a result of the absence of a guilty party. The files were sent to a secret archive. In 1997, it was revealed that the negatives from Krivonischenko's camera were kept in the private archive of one of the investigators, Lev Ivanov. The film material was donated by Ivanov's daughter to the Dyatlov Foundation. The diaries of the hiking party fell into Russia's
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
in 2009. On 12 April 2018, Zolotarev's remains were exhumed on the initiative of journalists of the Russian tabloid newspaper ''
Komsomolskaya Pravda ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (russian: link=no, Комсомольская правда; lit. "Komsomol Truth") is a daily Russian tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper, founded on 13 March 1925. History and profile During the Soviet era, ...
''. Contradictory results were obtained: one of the experts said that the character of the injuries resembled a person knocked down by a car, and the DNA analysis did not reveal any similarity to the DNA of living relatives. In addition, it turned out that Zolotarev's name was not on the list of those buried at the Ivanovskoye Cemetery. Nevertheless, the reconstruction of the face from the exhumed skull matched postwar photographs of Zolotarev, although journalists expressed suspicions that another person was hiding under Zolotarev's name after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. In February 2019, Russian authorities reopened the investigation into the incident, although only three possible explanations were being considered: an avalanche, a
slab avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earth ...
, or a
hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
. The possibility of a crime had been discounted.


Related reports

* Twelve-year-old Yury Kuntsevich, who later became the head of the Yekaterinburg-based Dyatlov Foundation, attended five of the hikers' funerals. He recalled that their skin had a "deep brown tan". * Another group of hikers (about south of the incident) reported that they saw strange orange spheres in the sky to the north on the night of the incident. Similar spheres were observed in Ivdel and adjacent areas continually during the period from February to March 1959, by various independent witnesses (including the meteorology service and the military). These sightings were not noted in the 1959 investigation, and the various witnesses came forward years later.


Aftermath

Anatoly Gushchin () summarized his research in the book ''The Price of State Secrets Is Nine Lives'' (', Sverdlovsk, 1990)Гущин Анатолий. ''Цена гостайны – девять жизней'', изд-во "Уральский рабочий", Свердловск, 1990 ( Anatoly, Gushchin. ''The price of state secrets is nine lives'', Izdatelstvo "Uralskyi Rabochyi", Sverdlovsk, 1990). Some researchers criticised the work for its concentration on the speculative theory of a Soviet secret weapon experiment, but its publication led to public discussion, stimulated by interest in the
paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...
. Indeed, many of those who had remained silent for thirty years reported new facts about the accident. One of them was the former police officer, Lev Ivanov (), who led the official inquest in 1959. In 1990, he published an article that included his admission that the investigation team had no rational explanation for the incident. He also stated that, after his team reported that they had seen flying spheres, he then received direct orders from high-ranking regional officials to dismiss this claim.Иванов Лев: "Тайна огненных шаров", "Ленинский путь", Кустанай, 22–24 ноября 1990 г. (Ivanov, Lev: "Enigma of the fireballs", ''Leninskyi Put'', Kustanai, Nov 22–24 1990) In 2000, a regional television company produced the documentary film ''The Mystery of Dyatlov Pass'' ('). With the help of the film crew, a Yekaterinburg writer, Anna Matveyeva (), published a
docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typic ...
novella of the same name.Анна, Матвеева.
Перевал Дятлова
", "Урал" N12-2000, Екатеринбург ( Anna, Matveyeva.

", "Ural"#12-2000, Ekaterinburg)
A large part of the book includes broad quotations from the official case, diaries of victims, interviews with searchers and other documentaries collected by the film-makers. The narrative line of the book details the everyday life and thoughts of a modern woman (an
alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...
of the author herself) who attempts to resolve the case. Despite its fictional narrative, Matveyeva's book remains the largest source of documentary materials ever made available to the public regarding the incident. Also, the pages of the case files and other documentaries (in photocopies and transcripts) are gradually being published on a web forum for enthusiastic researchers. The Dyatlov Foundation was founded in 1999 at Yekaterinburg, with the help of Ural State Technical University, led by Yuri Kuntsevitch (). The foundation's stated aim is to continue investigation of the case and to maintain the Dyatlov Museum to preserve the memory of the dead hikers. On 1 July 2016, a memorial plaque was inaugurated in
Solikamsk Solikamsk (russian: Солика́мск, Permyak: Совкар, ''Sovkar'', also Соликамскӧй, ''Sovkamsköy'') is a town in Perm Krai, Russia. Modern Solikamsk is the third-largest town in the krai, with a population of History The ...
in Ural's Perm Region, dedicated to Yuri Yudin (the sole survivor of the expedition group), who died in 2013.


Explanations


Avalanche

On 11 July 2020, Andrey Kuryakov, deputy head of the
Urals Federal District Ural Federal District (russian: Ура́льский федера́льный о́круг, ''Uralsky federalny okrug'') is one of the federal districts of Russia, eight federal districts of Russia. Its population was 12,080,523 (79.9% urban) ...
directorate of the Prosecutor-General's Office, announced an avalanche to be the "official cause of death" for the Dyatlov group in 1959. Later independent computer simulation and analysis by Swiss researchers also suggest avalanche as the cause. Summarizing Kuryakov's report in
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
,
Douglas Preston Douglas Jerome Preston (born May 31, 1956) is an American journalist and author. Although he is best known for his thrillers in collaboration with Lincoln Child (including the ''Agent Pendergast'' series and ''Gideon Crew'' series), he has also ...
writes,


Original explanation

Reviewing a
sensationalist In journalism and mass media, sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages biased or emotio ...
"
Yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
is an ape-like creature purported t ...
" hypothesis, American
skeptic Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...
author
Benjamin Radford Benjamin Radford (born October 2, 1970) is an American writer, investigator, and skeptic. He has authored, coauthored or contributed to over twenty books and written over a thousand articles and columns on a wide variety of topics including urba ...
suggests an avalanche as more plausible:


Contradictory evidence

Evidence contradicting the avalanche theory includes: * The location of the incident did not have any obvious signs of an avalanche having taken place. An avalanche would have left certain patterns and debris distributed over a wide area. The bodies found within a month of the event were covered with a very shallow layer of snow and, had there been an avalanche of sufficient strength to sweep away the second party, these bodies would have been swept away as well; this would have caused more serious and different injuries in the process and would have damaged the tree line. * Over 100 expeditions to the region had been held since the incident, and none of them ever reported conditions that might create an avalanche. A study of the area using up-to-date terrain-related physics revealed that the location was entirely unlikely for such an avalanche to have occurred. The "dangerous conditions" found in another nearby area (which had significantly steeper slopes and cornices) were observed in April and May when the snowfalls of winter were melting. During February, when the incident occurred, there were no such conditions. * An analysis of the terrain and the slope showed that even if there could have been a very specific avalanche that found its way into the area, its path would have gone past the tent. The tent had collapsed from the side but not in a horizontal direction. * Dyatlov was an experienced skier and the much older Zolotaryov was studying for his Master's Certificate in ski instruction and mountain hiking. Neither of these two men would have been likely to camp anywhere in the path of a potential avalanche. * Footprint patterns leading away from the tent were inconsistent with someone, let alone a group of nine people, running in panic from either real or imagined danger. All the footprints leading away from the tent and towards the woods were consistent with individuals who were walking at a normal pace.


Repeated 2015 investigation

A review of the 1959 investigation's evidence completed in 2015–2019 by experienced investigators from the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) on request of the families confirmed the avalanche with several important details added. First of all, the ICRF investigators (one of them an experienced alpinist) confirmed that the weather on the night of the tragedy was very harsh, with wind speeds up to hurricane force, , a snowstorm and temperatures reaching . These factors were not considered by the 1959 investigators who arrived at the scene of the accident three weeks later when the weather had much improved and any remains of the snow slide had settled and been covered with fresh snowfall. The harsh weather at the same time played a critical role in the events of the tragic night, which have been reconstructed as follows: * On 1 February the group arrives at the Kholat Syakhl mountain and erects a large, nine-person tent on an open slope, without any natural barriers such as forests. On the day and a few preceding days, a heavy snowfall persisted, with strong wind and frost. * The group traversing the slope and digging a tent site into the snow weakened the snow base. During the night the snowfield above the tent started to slide down slowly under the weight of the new snow, gradually pushing on the tent fabric, starting from the entrance. The group wakes up and starts evacuation in panic, with only some able to put on warm clothes. With the entrance blocked, the group escapes through a hole cut in the tent fabric and descends the slope to find a place perceived as safe from the avalanche only down, at the forest border. * Because some of the members have only incomplete clothing, the group splits. Two of the group, only in their underwear and pajamas, were found at the Siberian pine tree, near a fire pit. Their bodies were found first and confirmed to have died from hypothermia. * Three hikers, including Dyatlov, attempted to climb back to the tent, possibly to get sleeping bags. They had better clothes than those at the fire pit, but still quite light and with inadequate footwear. Their bodies were found at various distances from the campfire, in poses suggesting that they had fallen exhausted while trying to climb in deep snow in extremely cold weather. * The remaining four, equipped with warm clothing and footwear, were trying to find or build a better camping place in the forest further down the slope. Their bodies were found from the fireplace, under several meters of snow and with traumas indicating that they had fallen into a snow hole formed above a stream. These bodies were found only after two months. According to the ICRF investigators, the factors contributing to the tragedy were extremely bad weather and lack of experience of the group leader in such conditions, which led to the selection of a dangerous camping place. After the snow slide, another mistake of the group was to split up, rather than building a temporary camp down in the forest and trying to survive through the night. Negligence of the 1959 investigators contributed to their report creating more questions than answers, as well as inspiring numerous alternative and conspiracy theories.


Support from 2021 model

In 2021, a team of physicists and engineers led by Alexander Puzrin and Johan Gaume published in ''Communications Earth & Environment'' a new model that demonstrated how even a relatively small slide of snow slab on the Kholat Syakhl slope could cause tent damage and injuries consistent with those suffered by the Dyatlov team.


Katabatic wind

In 2019, a Swedish-Russian expedition was made to the site, and after investigations, they proposed that a violent
katabatic wind A katabatic wind (named from the Greek word κατάβασις ''katabasis'', meaning "descending") is a drainage wind, a wind that carries high-density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. Such winds are sometim ...
was a plausible explanation for the incident. Katabatic winds are somewhat rare events and can be extremely violent. They were implicated in a 1978 case at Anaris Mountain in Sweden, where eight hikers were killed and one was severely injured. The topography of these locations was noted to be very similar according to the expedition. A sudden katabatic wind would have made it impossible to remain in the tent, and the most rational course of action would have been for the hikers to cover the tent with snow and seek shelter behind the treeline. On top of the tent, there was also a torch left turned on, possibly left there intentionally so that the hikers could find their way back to the tent once the winds subsided. The expedition proposed that the group of hikers constructed two
bivouac shelter A bivouac shelter is any of a variety of improvised camp site, or shelter that is usually of a temporary nature, used especially by soldiers, or people engaged in backpacking, bikepacking, scouting, or mountain climbing. It may often refer to s ...
s, one of which collapsed, leaving four of the hikers buried with the severe injuries observed.


Infrasound

Another hypothesis popularised by
Donnie Eichar Donnie Eichar is an American film producer, director and author. As an author he is best known for his ''The New York Times'' best-selling book, ''Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident'' in 2013. He is known for pro ...
's 2013 book ''Dead Mountain'' is that wind going around Kholat Syakal created a
Kármán vortex street In fluid dynamics, a Kármán vortex street (or a von Kármán vortex street) is a repeating pattern of swirling vortices, caused by a process known as vortex shedding, which is responsible for the unsteady separation of flow of a fluid around ...
, which can produce
infrasound Infrasound, sometimes referred to as low status sound, describes sound waves with a frequency below the lower limit of human audibility (generally 20 Hz). Hearing becomes gradually less sensitive as frequency decreases, so for humans to perce ...
capable of inducing
panic attack Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and discomfort that may include palpitations, sweating, chest pain or chest discomfort, shortness of breath, trembling, dizziness, numbness, confusion, or a feeling of impending doom or of losing ...
s in humans. According to Eichar's theory, the infrasound generated by the wind as it passed over the top of the Holatchahl mountain was responsible for causing physical discomfort and mental distress in the hikers. Eichar claims that, because of their panic, the hikers were driven to leave the tent by whatever means necessary, and fled down the slope. By the time they were further down the hill, they would have been out of the infrasound's path and would have regained their composure, but in the darkness would have been unable to return to their shelter. The traumatic injuries suffered by three of the victims were the result of their stumbling over the edge of a ravine in the darkness and landing on the rocks at the bottom.


Military tests

In one speculation, the campsite fell within the path of a Soviet
parachute mine A parachute mine is a naval mine dropped from an aircraft by parachute. They were mostly used in the Second World War by the Luftwaffe and initially by the Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command. Frequently, they were dropped on land targets. Hist ...
exercise. This theory alleges that the hikers, woken by loud explosions, fled the tent in a shoeless panic and found themselves unable to return for supply retrieval. After some members froze to death attempting to endure the bombardment, others commandeered their clothing only to be fatally injured by subsequent parachute mine concussions. There are indeed records of parachute mines being tested by the Soviet military in the area around the time the hikers were there. Parachute mines detonate while still in the air rather than upon striking the Earth's surface and produce signature injuries similar to those experienced by the hikers: heavy internal damage with relatively little external trauma. The theory coincides with reported sightings of glowing, orange orbs floating or falling in the sky within the general vicinity of the hikers and allegedly photographed by them, potentially military aircraft or descending parachute mines. This theory (among others) uses scavenging animals to explain Dubinina's injuries. Some speculate that the bodies were unnaturally manipulated, on the basis of characteristic
livor mortis Livor mortis (Latin: ''līvor'' – "bluish color, bruise", ''mortis'' – "of death"), postmortem lividity (Latin: ''postmortem'' – "after death", ''lividity'' – "black and blue"), hypostasis (Greek: ὑπό, ''hypo'', meaning "under, bene ...
markings discovered during an autopsy, as well as burns to hair and skin. Photographs of the tent allegedly show that it was erected incorrectly, something the experienced hikers were unlikely to have done. A similar theory alleges the testing of
radiological weapon Radiological warfare is any form of warfare involving deliberate radiation poisoning or contamination of an area with radiological sources. Radiological weapons are normally classified as weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), although radiologica ...
s and is based partly on the discovery of radioactivity on some of the clothing as well as the descriptions of the bodies by relatives as having orange skin and grey hair. However, radioactive dispersal would have affected all, not just some, of the hikers and equipment, and the skin and hair discoloration can be explained by a natural process of
mummification A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furth ...
after three months of exposure to the cold and wind. The initial suppression by Soviet authorities of files describing the group's disappearance is sometimes mentioned as evidence of a cover-up, but the concealment of information about domestic incidents was standard procedure in the USSR and thus far from peculiar. And by the late 1980s, all Dyatlov files had been released in some manner.


Paradoxical undressing

''International Science Times'' posited that the hikers' deaths were caused by hypothermia, which can induce a behavior known as
paradoxical undressing Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe h ...
in which hypothermic subjects remove their clothes in response to perceived feelings of burning warmth. It is undisputed that six of the nine hikers died of hypothermia. However, others in the group appear to have acquired additional clothing (from those who had already died), which suggests that they were of a sound enough mind to try to add layers.


Other

Keith McCloskey, who has researched the incident for many years and has appeared in several TV documentaries on the subject, traveled to the Dyatlov Pass in 2015 with Yury Kuntsevich of the Dyatlov Foundation and a group. At the Dyatlov Pass he noted: * There were wide discrepancies in distances quoted between the two possible locations of the snow shelter where Dubinina, Kolevatov, Zolotarev, and Thibault-Brignolles were found. One location was approximately 80 to 100 meters from the pine tree where the bodies of Doroshenko and Krivonischenko were found and the other suggested location was so close to the tree that anyone in the snow shelter could have spoken to those at the tree without raising their voices to be heard. This second location also has a rock in the stream where Dubinina's body was found and is the more likely location of the two. However, the second suggested location of the two has a topography that is closer to the photos taken at the time of the search in 1959. * The location of the tent near the ridge was found to be too close to the spur of the ridge for any significant build-up of snow to cause an avalanche. Furthermore, the prevailing wind blowing over the ridge had the effect of blowing snow away from the edge of the ridge on the side where the tent was. This further reduced any build-up of snow to cause an avalanche. This aspect of the lack of snow on the top and near the top of the ridge was pointed out by Sergey Sogrin in 2010. McCloskey also noted: * Lev Ivanov's boss, Evgeny Okishev (Deputy Head of the Investigative Department of the Sverdlovsk Oblast Prosecution Office), was still alive in 2015 and had given an interview to former Kemerovo prosecutor Leonid Proshkin in which Okishev stated that he was arranging another trip to the Pass to fully investigate the strange deaths of the last four bodies when Deputy Prosecutor General Urakov arrived from Moscow and ordered the case shut down. * Evgeny Okishev also stated in his interview with Leonid Proshkin that Klinov, head of the Sverdlovsk Prosecutor's Office, was present at the first post mortems in the morgue and spent three days there, something Okishev regarded as highly unusual and the only time, in his experience, it had happened.
Donnie Eichar Donnie Eichar is an American film producer, director and author. As an author he is best known for his ''The New York Times'' best-selling book, ''Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident'' in 2013. He is known for pro ...
, who investigated and made a documentary about the incident, evaluated several other theories that are deemed unlikely or have been discredited:Dyatlov Pass: A Mystery Solved?
, ''
Spiked Spiked may refer to: * A drink to which alcohol, recreational drugs, or a date rape drug has been added ** Spiked seltzer, seltzer with alcohol **Mickey Finn (drugs) In slang, a Mickey Finn (or simply a Mickey) is a drink laced with an incapacitati ...
''
* They were attacked by
Mansi Mansi may refer to: People * Mansi people, an indigenous people living in Tyumen Oblast, Russia ** Mansi language * Giovanni Domenico Mansi (1692–1769), Italian theologian, scholar, historian and archbishop * Kate Mansi, American actress born in ...
or other local tribesmen. *:The local tribesmen were known to be peaceful and there was no track evidence of anyone approaching the tent. * They were attacked and chased by animal wildlife. *:There were no animal tracks and the group would not have abandoned the relative security of the tent. * High winds blew one member away, and the others attempted to rescue the person. *:A large experienced group would not have behaved like that, and winds strong enough to blow away people with such force would have also blown away the tent. * An argument, possibly related to a romantic encounter that left some of them only partially clothed, led to a violent dispute. *:About this, Eichar states that it is "highly implausible. By all indications, the group was largely harmonious, and sexual tension was confined to platonic flirtation and crushes. There were no drugs present and the only alcohol was a small flask of medicinal alcohol, found intact at the scene. The group had even sworn off cigarettes for the expedition." Furthermore, a fight could not have left the massive injuries that one body had suffered. Amateur aviation historian Andrey Shepelev considers that the group could die due to a
photoflash bomb Flashbombs are loaded into a photo-reconnaissance Melsbroek_Air_Base.html"_;"title="De_Havilland_Mosquito_at_Melsbroek_Air_Base">Melsbroek,_Belgium._c.1944 A_photoflash_bomb,_or_flash_bomb,_is_bomb.html" ;"title="Melsbroek Air Base">Melsbroek, B ...
dropped by a US spy plane, and a declassified US document confirms that, in the first half of 1959, there was such a secret mission near
Nizhnyaya Salda Nizhnyaya Salda (russian: Ни́жняя Салда́) is a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Salda River ( Ob's basin), north of Yekaterinburg, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History It was founded in 176 ...
. According to Shepelev, the US plane could drop a photoflash bomb, which, due to the mountainous area, exploded closer to the ground than expected. The explosion could frighten the hikers, so they left the tent and froze to death. Some of the hikers could be injured directly by the explosion.


In popular culture

* Popular interest in Russia was revived in the 1990s in the wake of Anatoly Gushchin's () 1990 novel, ''The Price of State Secrets Is Nine Lives'' (""). * The incident figures prominently in the 2012 novel ''City of Exiles'' by
Alec Nevala-Lee Alec Nevala-Lee (born May 31, 1980) is an American biographer, novelist, and science fiction writer. He was a Hugo and Locus Award finalist for the group biography ''Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, ...
. * ''The Dyatlov Pass Incident'' ( ''
Devil's Pass ''Devil's Pass'' (originally titled ''The Dyatlov Pass Incident'') is a 2013 horror film directed by Renny Harlin, written by Vikram Weet, and starring Holly Goss, Matt Stokoe, Luke Albright, Ryan Hawley, and Gemma Atkinson as Americans who inve ...
''), a film directed by
Renny Harlin Renny Harlin (born 15 March 1959) is a Finnish film director, Film producer, producer, and screenwriter who has made his career in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood and Cinema of China, China. His best-known films include ''A Nightmare on Elm ...
, was released on 28 February 2013 in Russia and 23 August 2013 in the U.S. It follows five American students retracing the steps of the victims, but, being a work of fiction, makes several changes in describing the initial events, e.g., inverting names of victims. * ''Russia's Mystery Files: Episode 2 – The Dyatlov Pass Incident'', 28 November 2014,
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
. * In 2014, a Discovery Channel special "Russian Yeti: The Killer Lives" purported to examine the incident in relation to the myth of the
Yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
is an ape-like creature purported t ...
. * In 2015, Russian band
Kauan Kauan is an atmospheric doom metal/post-rock band from Chelyabinsk, Russia formed in 2005. Kauan's name stems from the Finnish language, meaning ''for a long time'', and many of the band's lyrics are in Finnish. Furthermore, most of the band no ...
released the album ''Sorni Nai'' which attempts to reconstruct the events that led up to the incident. * The 2015 Polish horror video game '' Kholat'' is inspired by the Dead Mountain incident, in which the player goes to Dyatlov Pass in order to trace the steps of the lost expedition, and begins to uncover "the true cause" of the hikers' deaths. * The 2020 Russian mini-series ''Dead Mountain - The Dyatlov Pass Incident'' follows the investigations of Oleg, a fictionalized KGB Major who in 1959 sets out to uncover the truth of what happened. * The 2022 book ''Dark Harvest'' by Will Jordan fictionalizes the incident to have been caused by an accidentally released biological weapon that induces psychosis in one member of the party.


See also

* Chivruay Pass incident, a lesser known tragedy occurring in 1973, also involving a group of explorers mysteriously dying in the Russian wilderness during the Soviet era * Hamar-Daban pass incident, a lesser known tragedy occurring in 1993, also involving a group of explorers mysteriously dying in the Russian wilderness *
Yuba County Five The Yuba County Five were a group of young men from Yuba City, California, with mild intellectual disabilities or psychiatric conditions, who attended a college basketball game at California State University, Chico, on the night of February  ...
, known as the "American Dyatlov Pass", a 1978 tragedy in which five men mysteriously died or disappeared on their way back from a basketball game in
Yuba County, California Yuba County (; Maidu: ''Yubu'') is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 81,575. The county seat is Marysville. Yuba County is included in the Yuba City, California Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...
*
List of unsolved deaths This list of unsolved deaths includes well-known cases where: * The cause of death could not be officially determined. * The person's identity could not be established after they were found dead. * The cause is known, but the manner of death (homi ...


Notes


References


Works cited

* * * *


Further reading

* Irina Lobatcheva, Vladislav Lobatchev, Amanda Bosworth (2013). ''Dyatlov Pass Keeps Its Secret''. Parallel Worlds' Books * Svetlana Oss (2015). ''Don't Go There: The Mystery of Dyatlov Pass''. CreateSpace


External links


Full investigation of the case including original documents, autopsy reports, morgue photos and detailed information on possible causes


* ttp://rbth.ru/travel/2013/02/25/extreme_tourism_in_the_urals_dyatlovs_footsteps_23259.html Deathly Urals location draws in tourists
Complete photo gallery including search party photos



Photo gallery including: party photos, photos of some investigator's documents including termination of criminal case act



Photo-video site with English

Atlas Obscura article on the Dyatlov Pass Incident


* ttps://www.kp.ru/daily/26830/3870457/ The DNA mystery
The Documentary Podcast: The Dyatlov Pass mystery
(
BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...
, 14 July 2019)
Revisited: how a Disney movie helped solve a decades-old mystery (Guardian podcast, 7 March 2021)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dyatlov Pass Incident 1959 in Russia February 1959 events in Europe Mountaineering disasters Sport deaths in the Soviet Union Unsolved deaths 1959 disasters in the Soviet Union Ural Federal University