Igor Dyatlov - the leader of the group

The Dyatlov Pass incident (Russian: ) is the mysterious deaths of nine ski hikers in the

northern Ural Mountains on February 2, 1959. The group consisted of eight men and two women. Most were students

or graduates of Ural Polytechnical Institute. The goal of the 14 day expedition was to reach Otorten (1234.2m), a
mountain 10 km (6 miles) north of the site of the incident. This route, at that season, was estimated as "Category III",

the most difficult. All members were experienced in long ski tours and mountain expeditions. The group arrived by

train at Ivdel, a city at the center of the northern province of Sverdlovsk Oblast on January 25. They then took a truck

to Vizhay - the last inhabited settlement so far north. They started their march toward Otorten from Vizhay on January

27. The next day, one of the members - Yuri Yudin, was forced to go back because of illness. Diaries and cameras

found around their last camp made it possible to track group's route up to the day preceding the incident.

The hike started out fairly late on February 1 and only traveled 4 km (2.5 miles) that day. Excess gear and food was

stored on a platform in the forest called labaz, or camp base. Camp was set up around 5 pm on a slope of Kholat

Syakhl just 16 km (10 miles) from Mount Otorten. They had their dinner around 6-7 pm and one or two members of

the group went outside to relieve themselves, presumably Semyon Zolotarev and Nikolai Thibeaux-Brignolles, since
they were found to have been better dressed than the others. Then something went catastrophically wrong.
It had been agreed beforehand that Dyatlov would send a telegram to their sports club as soon as the group returned

to Vizhay. It was expected that this would happen no later than February 12, but Dyatlov had told Yudin that he

expected to be longer, and so when date passed and no message had been received there was no immediate

reaction - delays of few days were common in such expeditions. Only after the relatives of the travelers demanded a

rescue operation did the head of the institute send the first rescue groups consisting of volunteer students and

teachers, on February 20. Later, the army and police forces became involved, with planes and helicopters being

ordered to join the rescue operation.

Yuri Doroshenko
Lyudmila Dubinina

Igor Dyatlov
Alexander Kolevatov

Zinaida Kolmogorova
Yuri Krivonischenko

Rustem Slobodin
Nikolai Thibeaux-Brignolles

Semyon Zolotaryov
 Yuri Yudin *
* Yuri Yudin fell sick halfway and returned thus remaining alive. He didn't have the
slightest idea of what might have happened to his comrades.
On February 26, the searchers found the abandoned and badly damaged tent on Kholat Syakhl. 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 and

that skiers had fled in socks or barefoot. A chain of eight or nine sets of footprints, left by several people who were

wearing socks, a single shoe or barefoot, could be followed and led down towards the edge of nearby woods (on the

opposite side of the pass, 1.5 km north-east) but after 500 m they were covered with snow.

At the forest edge, under a large old cedar, the search party found the remains of a fire, along with the first two

bodies, those of Yuri Krivoshenko and Yuri Doroshenko, shoeless and dressed only in their underwear. The branches

on the tree were broken up to five meters high suggesting that skiers had climbed up to look for something, perhaps

the camp. Forensic tests later confirmed that traces of skin were found embedded in the bark indicating that the pair

had frantically attempted to climb the tree snapping off branches until their hands were mass of pulpy flesh. The

medical examiner recorded that some of the corpses had livor mortis on the front. Given that such marks always form

on the side of a body that has been pressed against the ground, this indicated that someone had turned them over

after death.

On February 27 between the cedar and the tent the searchers found Igor Dyatlov (300 m from the cedar) and Zinaida

Kolmogorova (630 m from the cedar), and 6 days later on March 5 - Rustem Slobodin (480 m from the cedar). The
three seemed to have died in poses suggesting that they were attempting to return to the tent. A medical examination
found no injuries which might have led to their deaths, and it was concluded that they had died of hypothermia.

Slobodin had a small crack in his skull, but it was not thought to be a fatal wound. A legal inquest started immediately

after finding the first five bodies. Searching for the remaining four travelers took more than two months.

They were finally found on May 5 under four meters of snow in a ravine 75 m farther into the woods from the cedar

tree. These four were better dressed than the others, and there were signs that those who had died first had

apparently relinquished their clothes to the others. Zolotaryov was wearing Dubinina's faux fur coat and hat, while

Dubinina's foot was wrapped in a piece of Krivonishenko's wool pants. An examination of the four bodies found in

May changed the cource of the whole investigation. Three of them had fatal injuries: the body of Thibeaux-Brignolles

had major skull damage, and both Dubinina and Zolotarev had major chest fractures. According to Dr. Boris

Vozrozhdenny, the force required to cause such damage would have been extremely high. He compared it to the

force of a car crash. Notably, the bodies had no external wounds as if they were crippled by a high level of pressure.

Dubinina was found to be missing her tongue. The group clearly realized their threats and did everything they could

to preserve themselves. They had managed to dig out a den in the snow, lay it down with branches in an effort to

keep themselves warm. But the things were about to get even more bizarre. Bodies were actually found few feet from

their improvised shelter in the deep part of the ravine on the area of only 4 m 2. Some of the hikers' clothing (2

sweaters and pants) were found to be radioactive. Also, some of the clothes taken from the bodies underneath the

cedar tree were placed on the cedar branches, but apparently they were not used.

Timeline

Jan 25 the group (10) arrives by train in Ivdel and takes the bus to Vizhay

Jan 26 truck takes the group to a logging community called Settlement 41

Jan 27 the group hires a sled for 24 km to North-2 mining settlement (abandoned)

Jan 28 Yuri Yudin goes back with the sled due to his back pain (sciatica), the group now consist of 9 members

they spend the night on the banks of Lozva river

Jan 29 the group on skis makes their way from Lozva to Auspiya river where they spend the night

Jan 30 the group pitches their tent on the banks of Auspiya river

Jan 31 the group spends the night on the banks of Auspiya river and leaves provisions on a raised platform (labaz)

to lighten their backpacks for the ascent

Feb 1 the group starts late, goes 500m off their planned route and pitch their tent on the north slope of Kholat

Syakhl

what is nowadays called Dyatlov Pass is not where they went but where they intended to go

Feb 2 all members of Dyatlov Group die in a mysterious way

Feb 12 the group was expected back in Vizhay

Feb 21 search parties are on their way

Feb 26 tent found

Feb 27 bodies of Doroshenko, Krivonischenko, Dyatlov and Kolmogorova are found

Mar 4 autopsy of Doroshenko, Krivonischenko, Dyatlov and Kolmogorova

Mar 5 body of Slobodin is found

Mar 8 autopsy of Slobodin

Mar 9 Doroshenko and Kolmogorova are buried in Mikhailovskoe Cemetery

Krivonischenko is burried in Ivanovskoe Cemetery

Mar 10 Dyatlov and Slobodin are buried in Mikhailovskoe Cemetery

May 5 den and bodies of Dubinina, Kolevatov, Thibeaux-Brignolles and Zolotaryov are found

May 9 autopsy of Dubinina, Kolevatov and Thibeaux-Brignolles and Zolotaryov

May 12 Dubinina, Kolevatov and Thibeaux-Brignolles are buried in Mikhailovskoe Cemetery

Zolotaryov is burried in Ivanovskoe Cemetery

May 18 radiological test of clothes on Dubinina, Kolevatov and Thibeaux-Brignolles and Zolotaryov

May 28 case closed

Official statement for closing the case given by Junior Counselor of Justice and Criminal Prosecutor of Sverdlovsk

region, Lev Ivanov:

The deaths of the expedition members were due to a series of mistakes by Dyatlov. On 1 February he began the

ascent to the summit at 3 PM, even though he knew about the difficulty of the terrain. Furthermore and this was

Dyatlovs next mistake he chose a line 500 m to the left of the planned pass that lies between Peak 1079 and Peak

880. So the group found themselves on the eastern slope of Peak 1079. They used what was left of the daylight to

ascend to the summit in strong winds (which are typical for this area) and low temperatures of minus 25 degrees

centigrade. Dyatlov found himself in bad conditions for the night, so he decided to pitch his tent on the slope of 1079

so as to start in the morning without adding the distance from the forest (~1 km) to the remaining trek of about 10 km

to the summit.

Considering the absence of external injuries to the bodies or signs of a fight, as well as the abandonment of all the

valuable resources, adding the conclusions of the medical examinations for the causes of the deaths, it has to be
concluded that the cause of their deaths was calamity or overwhelming force.
 Secret Soviet death rays. Yetis. Aliens.
Just what did slaughter nine hikers on
Siberia's Death Mountain in 1959?
Dyatlov Pass Indicent is one of the eeriest mysteries in
Russian history
Nine experienced Russian skiers died of inexplicable
causes
By TONY RENNELL FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 23:39 BST, 23 August 2013 | UPDATED: 11:32 BST, 24 August 2013

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Peering through the windswept snow on a dark February day, the rescue
party finally came on the first sign of life the flapping remains of a tent
pitched on ski poles on an uppermost slope of Kholat Syakhl, Mountain of
the Dead in the native language of northern Siberia.
But where were the nine young Russian students who should have been
sheltering beneath the canvas?
Curiosity turned to mystery as human tracks were seen in the snow
heading downhill away from the tent in single file for a third of a mile...
barefoot human tracks.
Smiling before disaster: (Left to right) Nicolai Thibeaux-Brignolle, Luda Dubinina, Semyon
Zolotarev and Zina Kolmogorova

In temperatures of minus 24! And mystery became horror when an

inspection of the tent showed its front flaps still buttoned tightly together
but huge knife slashes down the sides through which the occupants
apparently fled.
Inside was like the Mary Celeste, with everything intact warm clothes,
waterproof jackets, blankets and sweaters that would have been essential
to survive in the Siberian weather; plus cameras, diaries and cooking
utensils, all apparently abandoned in a moment of madness.
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So began the story of what became known as the Dyatlov Pass Incident,
one that has baffled the world for more than half a century since whatever
horrific tragedy overtook the nine in February 1959.
They had been missing for almost a month after trekking out into the
bleak wildness of the Ural mountains seven men and two women, all of
them fit, hardy and experienced hikers on what was supposed to be a
short and invigorating break from their graduate studies.

Eerie: The tent as the rescuers found it on February 26, 1959, which had been cut open from
inside

Haunting photographs from the film in their cameras show the happy and
relaxed faces of good friends on an exhilarating adventure, capturing their
journey by train, road and on foot to this desolate area.
They smile out fresh-faced and jolly from black-and-white snaps, rugged,
healthy young people in the anoraks, plus-fours, waterproof galoshes and
gaiters of the day, oblivious to what fate has in store for them.
When they failed to return, search parties went out, with every
expectation of finding at least some survivors hopes that were soon
dashed.
The first bodies frostbitten and frozen stiff were discovered lying in
the snow on flat land near a river, a mile from the tent, next to the remains
of a long burnt-out fire.
Around 350 yards away lay the corpse of Igor Dyatlov, the 23-year-old
engineering student from Ural Polyetchnic who had put the expedition
together and was its leader. (His name would later be given to the area
where the tragedy took place.)
Nearby, a search dog sniffed out the remains of Zina Kolmogorova, 22,
under four inches of snow, and then that of Rustem Slobodin. The bodies
were in a line 200 yards apart, as if they had been trying to crawl behind
each other back up to the shelter of the tent, but never made it.
Another two months went by before the rest of the group were found,
under 15ft of snow in a den they had desperately hollowed out for
themselves before succumbing to the cold.
Some of this group had broken bones and terrible internal injuries but,
strangely, no external wounds, not even scratches on the skin.
Stranger still, odd bits of their clothing contained higher than normal levels
of radiation.
Indeed, post-mortem examinations of all nine bodies threw up a string of
bewildering anomalies. Why were some fully clothed, but others nearly
naked? Most disconcerting of all was Lyudmilla Dubininas body, which
was missing her tongue and eyes.
Striking camp: The skiers setting up camp on February 2, 1959 in a photo taken from a roll of
film found by investigators

What had gone on in those dark and dreadful hours on the Mountain of
the Dead? What had caused nine highly educated, young adults to plunge
panic-stricken into the sub-zero night to their deaths?
The official Soviet investigator into the tragedy, Lev Ivanov, could find no
answers. He concluded in his hastily composed report that all nine deaths
had been caused by what he described as an unknown elemental force
which they were unable to overcome.
Privately, he told people he thought theyd been killed by aliens in a UFO.
And that was where official investigations ended. Case closed. Access to
the entire area was sealed off from prying eyes for the next four years, by
which time the authorities believed this incident would have disappeared
off the radar, as many strange happenings did in the old Soviet empire.
But the mystery would not go away. The ingredients were too potent.
Now the riddle has been revisited in a new book by British writer and
researcher Keith McCloskey. It is also the subject of a gripping new film
released this weekend by Hollywood director Renny Harlin, a
veteran of mystery, thriller and horror movies.
There is no theory that makes sense, says Harlin, only guesses. And
hes right. The explanations put forward over the years for what made the
Dyatlov Nine flee mindlessly from the relative haven of their tent to die in
the snow range from the obvious to the bizarre and then to the insane,
with large doses of conspiracy theory along the way.
There is the sexual explanation, for example did a massive drunken
punch-up break out among the men, possibly over advances made to the
alluring Zina Kolmogorova? But while human nature is always suspect in
the claustrophobic conditions of a tent on a blizzard-swept mountainside,
that doesnt explain why they fled en masse into the night.
Wild bears on the prowl for prey are another proposition but no animal
tracks were found.
An avalanche might have been enough for them to lose their nerve and
run. Perhaps, in confusion, they raced away from the immediate danger
but then could not find their way back in the pitch black of the night and
against Arctic winds.
Yet there was no sign of snow pouring over the tent, which was still
largely upright when found. And these were experienced adult hikers, not
likely to be easily scared. At least one of them surely would have kept
calm enough not to join the lemming rush to their doom?
Were they, perhaps, caught up in some bizarre military accident in the
lonely (and top secret) vastness of the Russian interior a missile
misfiring or a low-flying jet sending out shock waves and noise that
frightened them out of their wits?
This was the height of the Cold War with both sides of the East-West
divide searching for the ultimate weapon to knock the other out. But there
is no evidence of experimental weapons sites within hundreds of miles.
There has been speculation about the development of ultra-sonic
weapons that destroy with sound alone, but no proof that such arms even
exist.
What is known is that nearby the Mountain of the Dead were gulag camps
for those unfortunates who crossed the Communist leadership in
Moscow. Could a bunch of desperate escapees have pounced on the
unsuspecting hikers and slaughtered them?

Experienced skiers: Yuri Yudin, centre, hugging Lyudmila Dubinina as he prepares to leave the
group due to illness, which saved his life as he left the expedition before the deaths

Or were the campers as another unprovable theory suggests

collateral damage after a mass escape of criminal thugs from one camp in
the area?
This was supposedly foiled by the KGB using missiles loaded with nerve
gas or vacuum bombs that sucked the oxygen from the air perhaps
explaining the internal injuries some of the hikers suffered.
But there were no other footprints in the snow around the site suggesting
more people were involved which also rules out suggestions that the
Nine stumbled on Soviet Spetznaz special forces testing secret weapons
and were eliminated on the spot to shut them up.
Conspiracy theories are two-a-kopek. While sceptics might dismiss the
Soviet investigators talk of aliens, believers are encouraged by reports of
strange lights and bright orbs hovering in the night sky at around this
time.
The last photograph on the film in one of the cameras found in the tent
appears to capture a giant flash against the night sky but it could
equally be the result of an accidental over-exposure.
Then we must consider (but quickly pass over) the possibility of
wandering yetis or abominable snowmen pouncing on the hapless hikers
and squeezing the life out of the victims with those massive internal
injuries.
A centuries-old horror legend in the Urals speaks of a fearsome zolotaya
baba a golden woman lurking in the area.
But the simple fact is no theory holds up to scrutiny. As Keith McCloskey
concludes, we will probably never know for sure what actually happened
on that remote mountainside.
The one thing he feels sure about is that there was some sort of an official
cover-up, which has served only to add to the mystery. But the Soviet
Union was a place where concealing the truth was second nature to
officials, high and low.
Accidents were routinely airbrushed from the record. Twenty years after
the Dyatlov incident, a fatal release of anthrax from a germ warfare
research establishment in the Urals was hushed up. The KGB seized all
hospital records and, to this day, the site is off-limits.
McCloskey blames the deaths of the Dyatlov Nine on some unspecified
accident caused by the Soviet military, but precisely what and where and
how eludes him and us.
Harlins provocative film, on the other hand, provides an answer.
With impressive starring roles for young British actresses Holly Goss and
Gemma Atkinson, it follows five modern-day American students as they
trek to the Urals to make a documentary about the Dyatlov disaster, then
succumb to...
To what? It would be wrong for me to spoil the surprise for those who
want to see this taut film drama for themselves. Lets just say they
stumble on a secret that builds slowly and atmospherically to a climax of
horror thats great on screen but a time warp or two away from reality.
The mystery of the Mountain of the Dead goes on, as intriguing and
unresolved as ever.

Mysterious landscape: Siberia is known as a beautiful part of Russia but its desolate
countryside can be unforgiving for walkers and hikers

The only certainty in the whole mind-bending story is the luck of the tenth
member of the group, 21-year-old Yuri Yudin.
A fellow student, he set out on the expedition with the rest, but was in
such pain from lumbago, exacerbated by the cold, that he reluctantly had
to drop out three days before his friends reached the mountain and
encountered whatever horror killed them.
That unknown elemental force identified by the original Soviet
investigator more than half a century ago still lacks a convincing name.
There will undoubtedly be more theories in this story. Watch this space.
Adapted from Mountain Of The Dead by Keith McCloskey (History Press,
9.99). Keith McCloskey 2013. To buy this book for 8.99 (p&p free),
tel: 0844 472 4157.