The Story
In late January of 1959 nine students at the Ural Polytechnic Institute and an experienced ski tourist set out from the institute on a 22 day journey that would take them deep into the Siberian wilderness to the summit of Mount Otorten via one of the most treacherous ski routes of the day. Such an undertaking was not unusual for the group; every member was an experienced skiers who were trying to gain practical experience in the sport in order to improve their sporting ranks. Igor Dyatlov, the leader of the trip, had taken another group on the very same route only months before (McCloskey, Prologue). The group traveled by various means from the Institute to reach their point of departure into the wilderness. The journey to reach the Urals took several days and in this time one of the group's members, Yuri Yudin, became ill from the riding in an open-air truck through the frigid air for several hours. As a result of Yudin's acute leg pains he decided to turn back shortly into the ski trail much to the dismay of his friends. Yudin didn't realize it at the time but his unexpected sickness effectively saved his life (McCloskey, Ch. 1).
Upset at the loss of their comrade, the rest of the group pushed deeper into the Siberian wilderness. On February 1st, ten days into the journey, the group woke up early from their tent to discover ideal ski conditions. Cheerful and well-rested the skiers set out for the summit of Mount Otorten, a checkpoint of their journey. As the day progressed the weather gets increasingly worse and by mid-afternoon the skiers struggled to keep moving in the roaring wind. Around five in the afternoon the group begins to assemble their tent and made camp on the summit of Kholat-Syakhl, a mountain near Mount Otorten. The skiers were clearly off course at this point but they decided to make camp anyway, likely to avoid the brunt of the storm. After they raised their tent and ensured that it was properly secured and insulated, the group had dinner and settled in for the night (McCloskey, Ch.1).
At some time past midnight on the morning of February 2nd, some unknown stimulus compelled the skiers to quickly evacuate their tent with such urgency that they felt it necessary to cut a hole in the side of it rather than remove the layers of fabric securing the tent entrance. One by one the members of the Dyatlov group ran into the icy void of the Siberian winter leaving their boots and coats behind in their panic and one by one the ambitious young adventurers succumbed to the perils of the frigid night. Several days after the group failed to send message of their safe passage the friends and families of the students became worried and urged the Institute to send out a search party to find the missing skiers (Aquiziam). Unfortunately, after several hours of hiking the search party found what it was looking for.
The first thing the search party came upon was the ruined remains of the skiers' tent with boots and coats still neatly organized inside and food set out as if ready to be eaten (Eichar, 18). Upon further investigation, two bodies were found underneath a great pine tree on the edge of a nearby forest less than a kilometer from the campsite. These bodies were found to be wearing little other than their undergarments and they were lying around the remains of a fire. Examination of the great tree revealed broken branches that suggested that the tree had been climbed by one of the hikers. The next three bodies were discovered in a line at various distances from the location of the first two bodies and the campsite. These bodies were found to be slightly better dressed and one was found to have a minor skull fracture. The final four bodies eluded the initial search party and were only found the following spring by a larger search team buried in the snow at the bottom of a small ravine a short distance into the forest. These bodies were the best dressed, wearing some of the clothing of their fallen comrades and were found to have serious internal injuries including many broken ribs and a severely crushed skull. Two of these fallen skiers were also found to have significant amounts of radiation on their clothing and one girl was discovered to be missing her tongue and part of her oral lining (Aquiziam).
The Soviet government launched an investigation into what caused the deaths of the skiers that included full autopsies of the deceased skiers and forensic analysis but the inquiries were stopped when the team charged with the investigation could not find any evidence of foul play. The official conclusion was that an "unknown compelling force" (interpreted by some sources as "force majeure") caused the deaths of the hikers (Aquiziam). Nevertheless the Soviet government closed the area in which the skiers died, which is now called Dyatlov Pass, for three years following the incident. This seemingly unwarranted closure, the investigative team's vague conclusion, and some reports by family members of the skiers' bodies having orange skin and bleached hair at the funerals of the deceased have led many to suspect the Soviet government having something to do with the skiers' deaths (Osadchuk, 5). The strange details of the Dyatlov Pass Incident have led to many theories that attempt to explain what really happened on that cold February night in 1959.
Upset at the loss of their comrade, the rest of the group pushed deeper into the Siberian wilderness. On February 1st, ten days into the journey, the group woke up early from their tent to discover ideal ski conditions. Cheerful and well-rested the skiers set out for the summit of Mount Otorten, a checkpoint of their journey. As the day progressed the weather gets increasingly worse and by mid-afternoon the skiers struggled to keep moving in the roaring wind. Around five in the afternoon the group begins to assemble their tent and made camp on the summit of Kholat-Syakhl, a mountain near Mount Otorten. The skiers were clearly off course at this point but they decided to make camp anyway, likely to avoid the brunt of the storm. After they raised their tent and ensured that it was properly secured and insulated, the group had dinner and settled in for the night (McCloskey, Ch.1).
At some time past midnight on the morning of February 2nd, some unknown stimulus compelled the skiers to quickly evacuate their tent with such urgency that they felt it necessary to cut a hole in the side of it rather than remove the layers of fabric securing the tent entrance. One by one the members of the Dyatlov group ran into the icy void of the Siberian winter leaving their boots and coats behind in their panic and one by one the ambitious young adventurers succumbed to the perils of the frigid night. Several days after the group failed to send message of their safe passage the friends and families of the students became worried and urged the Institute to send out a search party to find the missing skiers (Aquiziam). Unfortunately, after several hours of hiking the search party found what it was looking for.
The first thing the search party came upon was the ruined remains of the skiers' tent with boots and coats still neatly organized inside and food set out as if ready to be eaten (Eichar, 18). Upon further investigation, two bodies were found underneath a great pine tree on the edge of a nearby forest less than a kilometer from the campsite. These bodies were found to be wearing little other than their undergarments and they were lying around the remains of a fire. Examination of the great tree revealed broken branches that suggested that the tree had been climbed by one of the hikers. The next three bodies were discovered in a line at various distances from the location of the first two bodies and the campsite. These bodies were found to be slightly better dressed and one was found to have a minor skull fracture. The final four bodies eluded the initial search party and were only found the following spring by a larger search team buried in the snow at the bottom of a small ravine a short distance into the forest. These bodies were the best dressed, wearing some of the clothing of their fallen comrades and were found to have serious internal injuries including many broken ribs and a severely crushed skull. Two of these fallen skiers were also found to have significant amounts of radiation on their clothing and one girl was discovered to be missing her tongue and part of her oral lining (Aquiziam).
The Soviet government launched an investigation into what caused the deaths of the skiers that included full autopsies of the deceased skiers and forensic analysis but the inquiries were stopped when the team charged with the investigation could not find any evidence of foul play. The official conclusion was that an "unknown compelling force" (interpreted by some sources as "force majeure") caused the deaths of the hikers (Aquiziam). Nevertheless the Soviet government closed the area in which the skiers died, which is now called Dyatlov Pass, for three years following the incident. This seemingly unwarranted closure, the investigative team's vague conclusion, and some reports by family members of the skiers' bodies having orange skin and bleached hair at the funerals of the deceased have led many to suspect the Soviet government having something to do with the skiers' deaths (Osadchuk, 5). The strange details of the Dyatlov Pass Incident have led to many theories that attempt to explain what really happened on that cold February night in 1959.