One of my future ambitions is to explore the mysteries that surround the world, beginning with the Dyatlov Pass. This hiking trail was first introduced to me around three years ago on the internet. I was met with a blinding story that compares the wild’s solemn nature with humanity’s desire for discovery.
Overview
During the winter of 1959, nine students and one sports instructor from the Urals Polytechnic Institute in Russia set out on a skiing and mountaineering expedition expedition on January 1st. As the group set out, hiking into the frigid wilderness, one student turned back because of joint pain; the remaining nine hikers, led by a 23-year-old engineering student named Igor Dyatlov, decided to venture forward.
The team made camp on February 1st, pitching a large tent on Kholat Saykhl, a mountainside covered with snowy slopes. The group was made of seven men and two women. They were never heard from again, and their bodies were found subsequently by a search team that arrived a few weeks later.
Over the next few months, all nine bodies were found, but in very baffling conditions. All nine of the bodies were dispersed across the entire slope of the mountain; many of them were undressed in very frigid conditions, some were missing their eyeballs, and one person was missing their tongue. None of the evidence really fit together, creating a six-decade long cold case that has not been cracked yet.
In recent years, scientific study and first-hand experience has projected the possibility that nature took their course on the campers through avalanches and dramatic winds (called katabatic wind). I will present to you what I believe truly happened during those infamous months in the chilling Northern Ural mountain ranges.
The Start
And the weather! In contrast to the rest of the warm days — today is a sunny cold day. The sun appears playful. // January 30, 1959; Unknown diary found at Dyatlov Pass camp
As the campers begin their journey along the pass, everything seems well, according to their journals. (All journals can be found here.)
They attempt to set up their camping site on an even snow slab located by the side of the mountain. They recently had come up from camping near the banks of the Auspiya river. In the following few days, all known contact and writing by the group has disappeared on February 1st.
The group was expected to return to town (Vizhay) on February 12th, yet no members have returned. On February 21st, 1959, search parties depart into the Ural Mountains for an attempted rescue; on February 26th, the rescue teams find their tent, pitched up on the same even snow slab that they had originally set it up on.
For reasons that were never answered, the sides of the tent were cut from inside and it looks like the hikers chose this strange exit for leaving the tent completely ignoring the entrance, or did they? // dyatlovpass.com
The last body is discovered on two months later from the initial tent finding. On May 27th, 2021, a radiation analysis is reported to the case officers, detailing that radiation was discovered on the clothes and tissues of Dubinina, Kolevatov, Thibeaux-Brignolle and Zolotaryov (4 members of the hiking group).
What Occurred During Their Stay
February 1st was the last recorded evidence of their well-being (diary entries). It seems like all is well, and they have not met any obstacles yet.
That night, a semi-large magnitude earthquake shook the mountains, causing a sudden avalanche to fall atop the tent’s encampment, quickly trapping their entrance. A rapid escape was required, which caused the tear on the side of the tent from the inside.
An earthquake-caused avalanche may create snow-slides that last many hours, which can explain the reason for why the bodies were placed in very distant positions. Massive snowfall and katabatic winds (“heavy winds” were mentioned in diaries) can cause brute force trauma to the human body, and can easily weather out body parts (which can explain the missing tongue and eyeballs). Although this is the most natural explanation, there are many counters to this argument, such as the the obvious stability of their encampment and rarity of katabatic winds actually occurring.
This mystery will not be completely solved for years to come, and we may never know the real truth of what happened during the unfortunate weeks in February that year.