The Dyatlov Pass Incident

Introduction

                The story is not exceptionally famous, but has fascinated experts for years. Nine hikers died under mysterious conditions in the Ural Mountains in 1959. Why and how did they die? Can we reach a valid conclusion? The only way to find out is to analyze the evidence we have.

The Facts

                In the last days of January 1959, ten ski-hikers set out to climb and ski in the Ural Mountains, which are primarily in Russia. The temperatures were freezing, but they were excited for this adventure. Their names were Dyatlov (the leader of the group), Kolmogorova, Dubinina, Kolevatov, Slobodin, Krivonischenko, Doroshenko, Thibeaux-Brignolles, Zolotariov, and Yudin. Dubinina and Kolmogorova were the only women on the trip. All of them were over 20 and experienced with ski hiking. 

                 They had not really started climbing yet when Yudin became sick, and had to leave the group. As he left, he never dreamed that he would never see his friends alive again. The others continued into the northern Ural Mountains as February began. On the night of February 1, they set up camp on a mountain slope. That had not been the original plan, but bad weather had resulted in an accidental deviation from their route. Why exactly they would camp on a fully exposed slope when the experienced skiers of the group would know that was not wise is not known. The fact remains that they did.

                They were supposed to notify family and friends when they arrived safely at their destination. But the telegram did not arrive. At first, no one was worried – due to the lack of precision when estimating times and surrounding circumstances (such as weather), it wasn’t surprising that they were a few days late. But on February 20, the first rescue group was sent out. They found nothing until February 26, when suddenly, clues to the disappearances were discovered.

                On February 26, they discovered the tent of the hikers. It was half-way torn down and appeared to have been cut from the inside, providing escape for any who were within. Presently they found footsteps from eight or nine people, and on following these for about 0.93 miles in a north-easterly direction, they found the remains of a fire under a cedar. Here they also found two bodies, those of Krivonischenko and Doroshenko.

                Within a mile of those bodies, in the direction heading back up towards where the tent had stood, were three more bodies. These were the remains of Dyatlov, Kolmogorova, and Slobodin.

                The final four bodies were not found until May 4, due to the excessive snow over them. They were in the bottom of a ravine another 250 feet from the cedar with the fire. The bodies belonged to Dubinina, Kolevatov, Thibeaux-Brignolles, and Zolotariov.

                The temperature when the ski-hikers left their tent was somewhere between -13 and -25 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet all of them were only partially dressed, and most of them wore no shoes.

The Conditions

                As has been noted, two bodies were found under the cedar tree. On this tree, the branches were broken to a height of about 15 feet, as if someone had attempted to climb up. Were they escaping some fear or possibly attempting to see the tent?

                The three bodies found away from the fire were all at least 300 feet from each other. The positions in which they died seem to indicate that they were attempting to scramble back up to the tent on the hill. This attempt clearly failed.

                Strangely, each of those five bodies was loosely clothed. Some of them had clothes torn off, presumably by each other. All of them had sock feet or bare feet, except for one who had one shoe. What would provoke a group of experienced hikers to exit their tent in such a dramatic and impractical manner?

                The final four bodies found in the ravine were buried under 13 feet of snow. They were dressed slightly better than the other five, and appeared to have shared some clothes. Perhaps they were taken off the dead bodies as they died by those who endured slightly longer.

                Doctors pronounced that six of the ski-hikers had died from hypothermia. The other three, though the cold probably had a major influence, had died from serious injuries. These three were three of the ones found in the ravine. Dubinina and Zolotariov both had serious chest fractures, worse than what a human could physically inflict. However, there was no bruising, thereby further proving the injuries were not inflicted by people. They could have come quite easily from falling into the ravine. Thibeaux-Brignolles had skull damage that was pronounced his official cause of death.

                Dubinina also had other injuries that resulted in great speculation from the people making hypotheses about the case. Her tongue was missing, as were her eyes and parts of her lips, facial tissue, and skull-bone fragments. They were the type of changes that would be expected on a body lying in water for months. They were almost certainly the results of natural putrefaction.

                Several people who attended the funerals commented on the color of the skin on the dead people as well. One 12 year old who attended five of the funerals said it was like a “deep brown tan.” Others termed it “orangeish.” Again, this would be the natural result of such exposure to the elements.

                One final strange condition of the case was that unusually high amounts of radioactive material were found in two of the pairs of pants and one of the sweaters. What reason could there be for such activity?

The Theories

                Naturally, many theories have been conjectured for why nine hikers would die in such conditions. Some are outrageous; others are plausible.

                One of the most popular theories is that an avalanche came through the campsite. It is thought that the avalanche may have knocked the tent down and forced the hikers to cut their way out with all possible speed to escape further damage. It is possible that the four hikers found the ravine were going for help, despite their extremely remote camping location, when they had their unfortunate fall resulting in deathly injuries. Six of the hikers died of hypothermia, which would make sense with an avalanche. However, although it is not impossible that an avalanche would occur in the area, it is not common either. The footprints that led to the cedar were found weeks after their death – wouldn’t an avalanche have covered those? The snow was not disturbed like one would expect an avalanche to disturb snow. There was no exceptional tree-line damage – no trees torn up or branches torn off. And the hikers were experienced – surely they would not set up their tent in an area where an avalanche was a serious and imminent possibility.

                Another source suggested atmospheric electricity. If it had somehow hit the tent and resulted in electricity inside, perhaps they were forced to flee as quickly as they could. Indirect lightning could have also impacted the tent. And perhaps the people found under the cedar had not lit the fire, but it had been lit by lightning and they had been electrocuted to death. One of the main problems with this theory is that it was shown by doctors that they died of hypothermia, not electrocution.

                Other hikers in the area, some miles away, reported seeing orange spheres in the sky on the night of the 2^nd. The Soviets confirmed much later that they had tested R-7 intercontinental missiles on that night. These were classified launches, and since the deaths occurred during the Cold War, this information was covered up at the time. Some have also said that much scrap metal was in the area due to military testing around there. Perhaps the hikers died due to a military weapon accident from the Soviets. This could possibly explain the radioactive clothes.

Others have suggested that the orange spheres were UFOs, and the hikers were killed by aliens. This is clearly ludicrous. One fairly popular theory is that the Yeti is somehow responsible for the deaths. Perhaps it scared the hikers from their tent, and then ripped out the tongue of Dubinina on becoming annoyed by her shrieking. However, this is also ludicrous due primarily to several factors: (1) there is no Yeti, (2) there are no extra footprints which a Yeti would leave, and (3) her tongue does not show signs of having been ripped out.

A final and more sensible theory is that of infrasound. Infrasound is a noise that is deeper than human hearing can go. Some people have deeper hearing than others, and can hear these noises. However, for the majority, they are inaudible. Yet these noises are still terrifying. If infrasound is the reason for death, it could have come from the wind, an avalanche elsewhere on the mountain, or military testing. Perhaps the four people found in the ravine heard the infrasound and were spurred to a terror that seemed inexplicable to the remaining five. In their terror, they rushed out of the tent and were presently followed by the others. Notably, this doesn’t explain why they were dressed in a slightly warmer manner than the five.

Incidentally, the clothing (or rather, the lack thereof) is quite normal in association with hypothermia. Perhaps some of them had hypothermia and left in a disoriented manner, only to be followed by the others to the eventual deaths of all.

Conclusion

                We cannot know for 100% sure why the hikers left their tent in the way that they did, due mostly to the fact that none of them survived to give an eye-witness account. The conclusion of those who investigated the case was that they fled the tent due to a “compelling unknown force.” In the prevention of other accidents, the pass was closed for the next three years, 1959-1962. Since the doctors pronounced that the five died of hypothermia, and the three from fatal injuries, the only real question is why they would flee their tent in the way that they did. This question can be answered by a multitude of theories, but the absolute perfect one is impossible to prove.