The Dyatlov Pass Incident:โค A Tragic Mystery in the Ural Mountains
In February 1959, a group of ten experienced ski hikers โคperished under baffling circumstances in the northern Uralโฃ Mountains.The incident, now known as the Dyatlov Pass incident, continues to intrigue adn puzzle investigators decades later.
The group, โled byโ 23-year-old Igor Dyatlov, comprised students โfrom the ural โPolytechnic โInstitute. Among them wasโข Semyon Zolotaryov, a 38-year-old sports instructor and veteran of World War Two. They began their journey on January 23rd, travellingโ by sleeperโข train from Sverdlovsk toโฃ Vizhay, a quite settlement. On January 25th, they hitchedโฃ a ride on a truck to the 41st โฃlogging โฃsettlement, before continuing the final โ15โค miles toโฃ the abandoned North-2 โmining settlement via โhorse-drawn sled.
It was at this point that Yura โขYudin, one of the group, decidedโ to turn back -โฃ a decisionโ that ultimately saved his life. Theโ remaining nineโ students pressed on โtowards โtheir goal: Mount Ortorten. The mountain’s name, given by the indigenousโฃ Mansiโ people,โค carries an โคominous meaning in their language: “Don’t Go There.” The โarea alsoโค held a dark history as the site of a notorious Soviet prison โคcamp (gulag), knownโฃ for its brutality.
The group โskiedโข along the Auspiya River before making camp on the eastern slope of Kholat syakhyl, digging a shallow pit โขto pitch their tent. After thisโฃ point, all contact with the group wasโฃ lost.
A โsearch partyโข was dispatched when the students failed to report back on schedule. On February 27th, rescuers, including โMikhail Sharavin, made โthe grim discoveryโ of โthe bodies. Sharavin, recallingโ the scene in a 2019 interview with the โฃBBC, โstated: “We approachedโข a cedar tree and when we were 20โ metres away, โwe saw a brown spot – it was towards the right of the trunk. and when we got closer we saw two corpses lying there.โฃ Theโฃ hands and the feet were โreddish-brown.”
The frist two bodies identified were those โof Yura Doroshenko โคand Yuri Krivonischenko. Both were foundโ stripped โขto their underwear, and Krivonischenko hadโฃ bitten off a piece of his own knuckle. Igor Dyatlov was discovered next, dressed but shoeless andโ lying face down in the snow. Zinaida Kolmogorova was โfound nearby, her โbody positionedโข as if โsheโ had been desperately โattempting to crawl uphill towards the tent. She boreโฃ a โnotableโ bruise on the right side of herโค torso, resembling a โblow from a baton.
Initial suspicions fell โคupon โthe Mansi people,though members of the community consistentlyโ denied โany involvement. Other theories ranged from military experiments to a more sinister, unknown cause.
However,a plausible descriptionโค has been proposed by Swiss scientists Alexander Puzrin and Johan โGaume.They suggestโข theโฃ group was likely killed by โขa rareโฃ “slab avalanche.”โฃ According toโ Puzrin, “If they hadn’t โmadeโค a cut โin the slope, nothing would have happened.that was the initial trigger, but that alone wouldn’t have been enough.” He โฃfurther explained that katabaticโ winds likely contributed toโฃ snow โขaccumulation, creating a dangerousโ situation. โ”At a certain point, aโ crack could have formed and spread, โcausing the snow slab to release.”
Theโ scientists theorize that the falling snow caused trauma to some hikers, forcingโฃ the โขothers to flee the tent inadequately clothed and ultimately succumb to hypothermia.