Exactly 55 years ago, on the same frosty night from February 1 to 2 as the one that reigns today in most of Russia, a tourist group died at the Dyatlov Pass. 1959 What happened in those tragic hours in the Ural Mountains? The circumstances of the group’s death have never been fully clarified...
The group included skiers from the tourist club of the Ural Polytechnic Institute: an instructor of the tourist base, three engineers - graduates of the institute and five students.
In order to answer the question “What happened in 1959 at the Dyatlov Pass?” it is necessary to restore the chronology of events.
The group went on a ski trip on January 23, 1959. The group was led by experienced tourist Igor Dyatlov, and the route passed through the north of the Sverdlovsk region. They timed their campaign to coincide with the 21st Congress of the CPSU. They set themselves the following tasks: to go on a ski trip of the 3rd category of difficulty through the mountains and forests of the Northern Urals; climb the peaks of the Otorten and Oiko-Chakur mountains; cover a distance of 350 kilometers on skis in 16 days.
February 1, 1959 on the slope of Mount Kholatchakhal or Kholat-Syakhl, which translated from Mansi means “Mountain of the Dead,” not far from the nameless pass, which was later called the Dyatlov Pass.
One of the last pictures of the tour group shows the preparation of the site for the tent -
The group was supposed to arrive at the last point of the route, the village of Vizhay, on February 12. From there they had to send a telegram to the institute's sports club, and return to Sverdlovsk by February 15. The main search group went to Ivdel on February 20, they were supposed to organize a search for the missing from the air. On February 22, search and rescue operations began.
The search party, led by B. Slobtsov, on February 26 found an empty tent with a cut wall, which was facing down the slope.
All the search engines who found themselves at the Dyatlov Pass in 1959 were not immediately able to understand what happened here.
Investigator V.I. Tempalov was among the first to arrive at the scene of the tragedy; he found traces on the slope. Here is what he said about this: “On the slope, 50-60 meters from the tent, eight pairs of human footprints were found. I examined them carefully, but due to temperature fluctuations and wind they were significantly deformed. No traces of the ninth person could be found. I photographed all the tracks; they led down from the tent.
Having studied the nature of the tracks, we came to the conclusion that people walked at a normal pace. But it was possible to see the tracks only in an area of 50 meters, and beyond that they were no longer visible. After all, the lower you go down the mountain, the more snow there is. Judging by all this, we realized that people were leaving in an organized and dense group.”
On the same day, 280 meters down the slope, and one and a half kilometers from the tent, near a cedar tree, the corpses of Yuri Krivonischenko and Yuri Doroshenko were found. The rescuers were shocked by the sight of these bodies; their underwear was removed. A fire was discovered next to the bodies, which had sunk into the snow; Doroshenko was on his stomach.
The same tree (cedar) -
We can say that at the same time, up the slope towards the tent, three hundred meters from the cedar tree, the body of Igor Dyatlov was discovered. He was reclining on his back, with his head towards the tent, his hand slightly hugging the trunk, his body was slightly covered with snow.
And 330 meters from him, but higher up the slope, under a layer of snow 10 centimeters thick, the body of Zinaida Kolmogorova was found. She was dressed warmly, but she had no shoes. There were signs of nosebleeds on his face.
A few days later, on March 5, 150 meters from the place where Kolmogorova’s body was found, and 180 meters from the location of Dyatlov’s body, under 20 centimeters of snow, the body of Rustem Slobodin was found, he was discovered using iron probes. He, like Kolmogorov, was dressed warmly; one foot was wearing a felt boot for four socks; the second felt boot was found in the tent.
The position of the bodies found on the slope and the positions in which they were found indicated that they all died heading towards the tent, and not vice versa.
No traces of violence were found on the found bodies of the tourists; they all died from hypothermia. An autopsy of Slobodin’s body revealed that he had a traumatic brain injury (there was a crack in the skull 0.1 cm wide and 16 cm long). This injury could cause repeated loss of consciousness, and ultimately lead to freezing. Another characteristic feature is skin color. In the documents compiled by forensic experts, it was reddish-purple, but in the memories of the rescuers, the color was orange-red.
The operation to search for the remaining tourists took place in several periods from February to May at the Dyatlov Pass in 1959. What happened on the fateful night from February 1 to February 2 became more clear when, after the snow melted, objects began to be found, by which rescuers were able to determine the desired direction of the search.
Thawed branches and scraps of clothing led rescuers to a creek hollow, located 70 meters from the cedar; it was heavily covered with snow. During excavations at a depth of more than 2.5 meters, a flooring of one birch and 14 fir trees, about two meters long, was discovered. Spruce branches and some items of clothing were found on the flooring.
A little lower from the decking and 75 meters from the fire pit, in the bed of a melting stream, under a four-meter layer of snow, the bodies of the remaining tourists were discovered.
First, Lyudmila Dubinina was found. She was on her knees, her face buried in the slope of the waterfall of the stream.
The remaining three tourists were found a little lower. Thibault-Brignolles lay directly in the water of the stream, and Zolotarev and Kolevatov were at the very edge of the stream. They rested in an embrace “chest to back”, in all likelihood, thus warming each other to the last.
Clothes (trousers and sweaters) of Doroshenko and Krivonischenko were found on the bodies, as well as near them. All the clothes had traces of even cuts; apparently, the clothes had already been removed from the corpses of tourists.
In order to understand what happened at the Dyatlov Pass in 1959, autopsies were carried out on the bodies of the victims.
During the autopsy in Ivdel, it turned out that three of the four had serious injuries. Zolotarev and Dubinina were found to have 12 broken ribs.
The first had fractures only on the right side, while the second had fractures on both sides. At the same time, traces of hemorrhage in the internal organs were noted, which means that the injuries were received while the people were still alive. Thibault-Brignolle suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, which, according to the conclusion of forensic experts, led to death.
Kolevatov had no serious injuries, only damage to his head, which was inflicted by an avalanche probe during the search for the body.
Of course, the investigation began to speculate about the events at the Dyatlov Pass (1959). What's happened? This remains not fully clarified.
Initially, the investigation worked out the version of the attack and murder of tourists by indigenous residents of the northern Urals. Mansi Sanbindalov, Anyamov, Kurikov and all their relatives were under suspicion. Some were locked in a holding cell and accused of forcibly entering the tent.
But the Mansi denied everything and said that they saw unusual “fireballs” above this place. In addition to describing this phenomenon, they also made a drawing of it. During the search operation, the rescuers themselves and other residents of the area also observed such “fireballs.”
Some young spruce trees at the forest line had a burnt mark. But these traces did not have a concentric or other shape, and no epicenter was discovered. The trees were not damaged, and the snow was not melted either.
After four corpses were discovered near the stream, their clothes were sent for radiological examination to the Sverdlovsk SES. Here the following conclusion was issued: “The clothing delivered for examination contains radioactive substances. Some clothing samples contain radioactive substances that are beta emitters. When flushing, these substances are not washed away, which means that they are caused by radioactive beta radiation, and not induced radioactivity.
All participants in the search for Dyatlov’s group signed a non-disclosure agreement for what they saw for 25 years.
On May 28, 1959, the criminal case was discontinued due to the lack of evidence of a crime. Professionals, climbers and tourists, with some discrepancies, made the following conclusions: for an unknown reason, on the evening of February 1st or on the night of February 1st to 2nd, tourists in a hurry left the tent and went down the slope towards the forest. People left completely undressed, and without taking special equipment and necessary things with them, some did not even put on outerwear and shoes. And this fact of leaving the parking lot represents the main issue in this tragedy.
Numerous versions have been expressed about the reasons that forced the group to leave the tent, but each of them has its own weaknesses. There is also a certain number of unexplained and unusual facts revealed during the autopsy. For example: a barely noticeable purple tint of clothing, the absence of Dubinina’s tongue, as well as the absence of eyeballs in her and Zolotarev, and, of course, incomprehensible “fireballs”.
,Instructions
How it happened is now almost impossible to establish. An official investigation into the deaths of nine experienced tourists at the end of May 1959 ruled that the cause of the tragedy was “the force of the elements, which people could not overcome.” However, the investigation could not explain many completely incomprehensible facts.
The official tragic campaign is as follows. On January 23, a group of ten tourists set off to conquer the Otorten peak of the Belt Stone ridge in the Northern Urals. The group was led by a fifth-year student at the Ural Polytechnic Institute, Igor Dyatlov. The trip was planned to last two weeks. Its participants, experienced skiers of the institute's tourist club, were physically and mentally prepared for a long trek of the highest category of difficulty.
In the village of Vizhay, where the Dyatlovites stopped to replenish supplies, Yuri Yudin remained ill. And the tour group of nine people went further along the route. On February 1, the tourists built a basic storage shed, left some food and equipment there, spent the night and moved on. On February 12, the Dyatlovites did not return to either Vizhay or Sverdlovsk. Concerned relatives initiated a search.
On February 26, 1959, at the pass at the foot of Mount Kholatchakhl, the search team found Dyatlov’s tourist group half crushed by snow and cut with a knife. A little lower down the slope, the naked, burnt and tattered corpses of two Yurievs were discovered - Krivonischenko and Doroshenko. Higher up the slope, two more dead tourists were found. Igor Dyatlov died reclining on his back, Zinaida Kolmogorova - lying on her stomach 300 m above. It looked like they were trying to get back to the tent. And at some distance the body of Rustem Slobodin was found, who had suffered a serious traumatic brain injury before his death.
Despite the frightening appearance of the dead, the investigation established that they died from hypothermia. The burns were most likely received while trying to stay warm by the fire, and the skin of their hands was torn off while breaking off branches for the fire.
The bodies of the remaining tourists were found only in the spring, when the snow began to melt. They were closer to the forest, near the stream. Most likely, tourists tried to hide there from the piercing icy wind. In the bed of the stream was the body of Lyudmila Dubinina. Her eyeballs and tongue were missing. Alexander Kolevatov and Semyon Zolotarev lay lower along the riverbed, huddled close to each other. Even lower was Nikolai Thibault-Brignolle. This entire group had an unnatural red-orange skin tone. And later in the laboratory they determined the presence of radioactive radiation on the skin and clothing, as well as internal injuries that could have been caused by a shock wave.
There are many versions of the tragedy that occurred. Investigators suspected the murder of the Dyatlov group of escaped prisoners from Ivdellag, a camp located nearby, as well as representatives of the Mansi tribe, who revered Mount Kholatchakhl as a holy place. These versions were supported by cuts on
Almost everyone has heard about the Dyatlov Pass. Many films have been made and even more articles have been written about the terrible tragedy that happened in the Northern Urals in 1959 with a group of tourists led by Igor Dyatlov.
There are many versions of the death of the Dyatlov group. They talk about unusual natural phenomena, secret tests and even UFOs... Unfortunately, as often happens, most of those who made films and wrote these same newspaper articles have never seen either the investigation materials or the results of examinations of this case. We will try to talk about the death of the group without prejudice, based solely on investigative materials.
Tent under the snow
On February 1, 1959, a group of tourist skiers (mostly students from Sverdlovsk) began climbing the mountain marked on their map as No. 1079. These were Igor Dyatlov (23 years old), Zinaida Kolmogorova (22 years old), Yuri Doroshenko (21 years old), Yuri Krivonischenko (23 years old), Lyudmila Dubinina (20 years old), Alexander Kolevatov (24 years old), Rustem Slobodin (23 years old) , Thibault-Brignolle Nikolay (23 years old), Zolotarev Alexander (37 years old).
On February 12, the group was supposed to arrive in the village of Vizhay and send a telegram to the sports club about the completion of the route. They have not come. A search operation was launched in the mountains. On February 26, an abandoned tent was found on the eastern slope of that same mountain. She was cut from the inside.
The Dyatlov group's tent was found by search engines Boris Slobtsov and Mikhail Sharavin, UPI students. Examining the eastern slope of the ridge with binoculars, Sharavin noticed a mound in the snow that looked like a littered tent. When the searchers came closer, they saw that the entire tent was covered with snow, from under which only the entrance was visible. Only the skis stuck into the snow stuck above the surface. The tent itself was covered with a hard layer of snow 20 cm thick. Footprints in the snow, going into the forest, indicated that the tourists had hastily left their accommodation for the night, cutting the tarpaulin of the tent. After the tent was discovered, a search for tourists was organized.
Stripped corpses
The frozen and mutilated bodies of all nine members of the group were found within a radius of one and a half kilometers from the tent.
So, at the very border of the forest, near the remains of a fire pit, the corpses of Yuri Doroshenko and Yuri Krivonischenko were found. The boys' arms and legs were burned and cut. Moreover, both corpses were found in their underwear without shoes. The boys' clothes were cut off with a knife. These clothes were subsequently found on other members of the group. This indicated that both Yuri were practically the first to freeze...
The examination found traces of leather and other tissues on the tree trunk. The guys climbed the tree to the last to break branches for the fire, while peeling their already frostbitten hands to the flesh.
With all my might
Soon, with the help of dogs, under a thin layer of snow, on the line from the tent to the cedar, they discovered the corpses of Igor Dyatlov and Zina Kolmogorova.
Igor Dyatlov was approximately 300 meters from the cedar, and Zina Kolmogorova was approximately 750 meters from the tree. Igor Dyatlov's hand peeked out from under the snow. He froze in such a position, as if he wanted to get up and go in search of his comrades again.
180 meters from Dyatlov’s corpse, towards the tent, the corpse of Rustem Slobodin was found. He was under a layer of snow on a slope: conditionally, between the corpses of Dyatlov and Kolmogorova. One of his feet was shod in felt boots. Rustem Slobodin was found by search engines in the classic “dead body”, which is observed in people frozen directly in the snow.
A later forensic medical examination established that Dyatlov, Doroshenko, Krivonischenko and Kolmogorova died from exposure to low temperatures - no damage was found on their bodies, with the exception of minor scratches and abrasions.
An autopsy of Rustem Slobodin revealed a 6 cm long skull fracture, which he received during his lifetime. However, experts found that his death, like everyone else’s, was due to hypothermia.
Mangled bodies
On May 4, in the forest, 75 meters from the fire, under a four-meter layer of snow, the remaining corpses were found - Lyudmila Dubinina, Alexander Zolotarev, Nikolai Thibault-Brignolle and Alexander Kolevatov.
There were no injuries on the body of Alexander Kolevatov; death was due to hypothermia.
Alexander Zolotarev had broken ribs on the right. Nikolai Thibault-Brignolles had extensive hemorrhage in the right temporal muscle and a depressed fracture of the skull.
Lyudmila Dubinina had a symmetrical fracture of several ribs; death occurred from extensive hemorrhage in the heart within 15-20 minutes after receiving the injury. The corpse had no tongue. On the bodies found and next to them were the trousers and sweaters of Yuri Krivonischenko and Yuri Doroshenko who remained at the fire. This clothing had even traces of cuts...
The criminal case into the death of the Dyatlov group was discontinued with the following wording: “Taking into account the absence of external bodily injuries and signs of struggle on the corpses, the presence of all the group’s valuables, and also taking into account the conclusion of the forensic medical examination on the causes of death of tourists, it should be considered that the cause the death of tourists was a natural force that the tourists were unable to overcome.”
Over the following years, numerous attempts were made to understand what happened on the slope of that ill-fated mountain. A wide variety of versions have been put forward - from completely plausible to unlikely, and even delusional. At the same time, they often forgot about the existing facts...
The events of that tragic night when Dyatlov’s group died were reconstructed solely based on the materials of the investigation and subsequent criminal examinations. So those who are expecting aliens, fantastic anomalies and secret tests need not read further. Here there will only be fatal mistakes, hopelessness and the life-sucking bitter cold of the Northern Urals...
Warnings and Errors
From the testimony of the forester of the Vizhaysky forestry I.D. Rempel: “On January 25, 1959, a group of tourists approached me, showed me their route and asked for advice. I told them that in winter it is dangerous to walk along the Ural ridge, since there are large gorges there that you can fall into, and strong winds rage there. To which they replied: “For us this will be considered first class difficulty.” Then I told them: “First we need to go through it...”
From the materials of the criminal case: “...knowing about the difficult terrain conditions of height “1079”, where the ascent was supposed to be, Dyatlov, as the leader of the group, made a gross mistake, which resulted in the fact that the group began the ascent only at 15.00.”
Literally an hour later it began to get dark. Twilight was brought closer by the onset of snowfall, which found the group on the mountainside. Before sunset there was only time to set up the tent.
Those who have gone on winter hikes know that a cold overnight stay at minus twenty-five is a serious test. Moreover, this was their first overnight stop when they decided not to light the stove.
"At random"
The tourists set up the tent “in a branded way”: they pulled guy ropes onto ski poles. The Dyatlovites had a small tin stove with them, but it was not installed that day, since the roof of the tent sagged and a fire could occur. There were no problems with installation in the forest - the guys are attached to trees, but there are no trees on the mountain. The central part of the tent could have been additionally secured with guy ropes on the skis, but this was not done.
It would be reasonable to try to secure the center of the tent, not even in order to hang the stove, but in order to avoid sagging the tent slopes under the mass of snow. But they didn’t do that either. Already frozen.
What was the ridge on which the tourists found themselves? Moving to the top, Dyatlov’s group reached one of the main ridges of the Northern Urals - the so-called watershed. This is where the heaviest snowfall in winter occurs and powerful winds blow.
In a snow sarcophagus
By nightfall, everyone got rid of their wet outerwear and took off their shoes. All except Thibault-Brignolle and Zolotarev. These two remained dressed and shod. Zolotarev, apparently as an experienced tourist and instructor, did not relax. And Thibault-Brignolle was on duty.
With sunset the weather changed a lot. The wind picked up and snow began to fall. Heavy snow stuck to the slopes, stuck around and practically cemented the tent dug into the snow, making a sarcophagus out of it. Due to the lack of a central stretch, the tent sagged under a thick layer of snow. The tent was old, sewn in many places. The accident did not have to wait long. The fragile slopes burst in several places, and under the weight of the snow, the tent collapsed right on top of the tourists. Everything happened quickly, in complete darkness. It became dangerous to be in the tent. The tourists lay covered with an awning under a thick layer of snow. The cold, torn tent did not warm, did not provide warmth. It turned into a source of obvious danger - it threatened to become a common grave. Dyatlov and Krivonischenko, who were at the end of the tent, began to cut the slopes.
Hoping for salvation
Outside, new troubles awaited the tourists. Having got out of the tent, the guys were faced with snowfall of incredible force and density, with wind knocking them down. The emergency situation required a quick decision. The squall literally knocked people off their feet, the tent was overwhelmed, and digging through the snow with bare hands under the icy wind was suicide.
Dyatlov decided to seek salvation in the forest below. We insulated ourselves as best we could. We somehow distributed the things we had taken from the tent. They didn’t get the shoes, they couldn’t. Wind, snow and cold interfered. Rustem Slobodin managed to put on only felt boots.
The wind almost itself drove the Dyatlovites down. The guys tried to walk side by side. However, it is unlikely that in such a situation everyone was able to stay within sight. A terrible cold pierced the tourists, it was difficult to breathe, and even more difficult to think. Most likely, the group broke up. Testimony from one of the search engines, Boris Slobtsov: “...the tracks at first were in a cluster, next to each other, and then they diverged.”
First victim
On the way to the forest, tourists had to overcome several stone ridges. At the third ridge, misfortune befell the most athletic one. It was not possible to walk confidently in the snow - with one foot bare and the other shod with felt boots - especially through the icy stones of the kurumnik. The felt boot slid violently on the smooth surface. Rustem Slobodin lost his balance and fell extremely unsuccessfully, hitting his head hard on a stone. Most likely, the rest of the Dyatlovites, busy overcoming the ridge, did not pay attention to his lag at first. They realized it later, a little later: they started looking for him, screaming, calling.
Having woken up, Rustem Slobodin crawled some distance down before losing consciousness. The injury was very serious - a crack in the skull... He died first, frozen in an unconscious state.
Falls and injuries
Having reached the forest, the Dyatlov group lit a fire near a tall cedar tree, in the only place found in the dark where there was little snow underfoot. However, a fire in the wind is not salvation. It was necessary to find a place to hide. Dyatlov sent the most well-equipped members of the group - Zolotarev, Thibault-Brignolle and Lyuda Dubinina - to search for shelter. The three of them wandered to the edge of the forest, avoiding a ravine at the bottom of which a stream flowed. In the darkness, the guys did not notice how they came to a steep seven-meter cliff and found themselves on a small snow ledge. Such “overhanging banks” near the tributaries of the North Ural rivers are a common occurrence. One has only to step on them in the darkness of the night, and tragedy is inevitable...
The fall from a seven-meter height onto the rocky bottom of the stream did not pass without a trace for all three; they all received multiple injuries, which were later described by a forensic expert: Thibault-Brignolles - a severe head injury, Zolotarev and Dubinina - chest injuries, multiple rib fractures. The boys could no longer move.
Fight for life
Now it is difficult to establish whether Sasha Kolevatov went with them to the place where they fell, or whether he and Igor Dyatlov found the guys later in a helpless state. Be that as it may, he did not abandon his comrades, he helped drag his friends higher along the stream, closer to the fire. Then Dyatlov, Kolevatov and Kolmogorov built a flooring of fir trees in a natural depression. It was very hard work. Everything was done with practically frozen hands, without mittens, without shoes, without warm outerwear. Ideally, it was necessary to move the wounded to the cedar, to the fire. But this was impossible. Between the wounded and the cedar there was a high steep ravine. The only way Sasha Kolevatov, Igor Dyatlov and Zina Kolmogorova could help their comrades was to make a second fire and maintain it. The group split up again. Walking between the fire and the decking was difficult. They were separated by a high snow wall. From the cedar to the flooring there were 70 endless meters.
Yura Doroshenko and Yura Krivonischenko remained to support the fire near the cedar.
Stress Sel e
On a windy hillock, near the edge of the forest, where the cedar was located, it was not easy to build a fire. Peeling the skin down to the meat, the guys broke the only material that is flammable in winter - the paws of cedar. The fire was their salvation. However, the fire and the first signs of warmth played a cruel joke on the Yuri. They began to feel sleepy. Anyone who goes on a winter hike knows that sleeping in the cold is death. The guys began to deliberately injure themselves so that the pain would return consciousness, so as not to freeze in unconsciousness. The traces of these injuries will later be described by a forensic expert: burns, bites of the palms, scratches.
Alas, the guys lost in this battle... In psychology there is such a thing as Selye stress. As soon as a freezing person feels the first signs of warmth, he relaxes, and in extreme conditions this is fatal. Especially if there is no one to help. Both Yuri died before everyone else did.
Clothes on corpses
The condition of the wounded on the deck quickly deteriorated. It was difficult to determine who was still alive. Apparently, Dyatlov instructed Kolevatov to maintain the fire near the deck, and he himself decided to go to the first fire. He found Doroshenko and Krivonischenko there already frozen. Apparently, believing that it was necessary to warm the wounded, Dyatlov cut off some of their clothing. Alas, their comrades never came to their senses. Their death left a depressing impression on those who remained.
The last push
Now it is difficult to say who was the first to go again to look for the lagging behind Slobodin - Igor Dyatlov or Zinaida Kolmogorova. Be that as it may, they went in search of him, not wanting to get used to the idea that finding something in this situation was completely unrealistic...
That’s how they were found later – frozen on the slope: Slobodin, Kolmogorova and Dyatlov. Dyatlov froze in a volitional position, not curled up in the fetal position in which frozen people are usually found. Until his last breath, he tried to go forward in search of his comrades.
White Silence
Perhaps, without waiting for Dyatlov, Kolevatov went to the first fire, but found there only an extinguished fire and the dead bodies of Doroshenko and Krivonischenko. Probably at that moment the guy realized that Dyatlov and Zina were also already dead...
Kolevatov wandered back to the flooring where his dead friends lay. He understood perfectly well that there was no longer any chance of survival. It is difficult to imagine the degree of despair of this man.
Subsequently, on May 4, searchers found four corpses eaten by mice at this place. Some had missing eyes, some had missing tongues, some had eaten away cheeks.
P.S.
Before leaving the tent, Dyatlov stuck his skis into the snow as a guide. He hoped to return, but led the group to their deaths. Everything was predetermined in advance: fatigue, an old rotten tent erected at random, lack of firewood and the harsh climate of the Northern Urals. Even now, tourists go to Otorten along the riverbeds of the Lozva tributaries, and not along the dangerous Ural ridge, where only wild cold reigns.
More versions :
1. A UFO in the Dyatlov Pass area awaits researchers:
2. There could have been a big fight at the Dyatlov Pass:
3. The mystery of the Dyatlov Pass has been solved:
So, friends, today there will be a big and interesting post about one of the most famous and mysterious stories of times - the story about the events in 1959 at the Dyatlov Pass. For those who have not heard anything about this, I’ll briefly tell you the plot - in the snowy winter of 1959, a group of 9 tourists died in the Northern Urals under extremely strange and mysterious circumstances - the tourists cut the tent from the inside and fled (many in only socks) into the night and cold, later, severe injuries will be found on many corpses...
Despite the fact that almost 60 years have passed since the tragedy, a complete and comprehensive answer to what actually happened at the Dyatlov Pass has not yet been given, there are many versions - some call it the death version tourists - an avalanche, some - the fall of the remains of a rocket nearby, and some even drag in mysticism and all sorts of "spirits of ancestors". However, in my opinion, the mystic had absolutely nothing to do with it, and Dyatlov’s group died from much more banal reasons.
How it all started. History of the campaign.
A group of 10 tourists led by Igor Dyatlov left Sverdlovsk on a hike on January 23, 1959. According to the Soviet classification used in the late fifties, the hike belonged to the 3rd (highest) category of difficulty - in 16 days the group had to ski about 350 kilometers and climb the Otorten and Oiko-Chakur mountains.
What’s interesting is that “officially” the hike of the Dyatlov group was timed to coincide with the XXI Congress of the CPSU - the Dyatlov group carried with them slogans and banners with which they had to be photographed at the end point of the hike. Let’s leave the question of the surreality of Soviet slogans in the deserted mountains and forests of the Urals; something else is more interesting here - in order to record this fact, as well as for the photo chronicle of the campaign, Dyatlov’s group had several cameras with them - the photographs from them, including those presented in my post, are cut off on the date January 31, 1959.
On February 12, the group was supposed to reach the final point of their route - the village of Vizhay and send a telegram from there to the sports club of the Sverdlovsk Institute, and on February 15 return by rail to Sverdlovsk. However, Dyatlov’s group did not get in touch...
Composition of Dyatlov's group. Oddities.
Now I need to say a few words about the composition of the Dyatlov group - I will not write in detail about all 10 members of the group, I will only talk about those that will later be closely connected with versions of the death of the group. You may ask - why are 10 members of the group mentioned, while there were 9 dead? The fact is that one of the group members, Yuri Yudin, left the route at the beginning of the hike and was the only one of the entire group to survive.
Igor Dyatlov, team leader. Born in 1937, at the time of the campaign he was a 5th year student at the radio engineering faculty of UPI. Friends remembered him as a highly erudite specialist and a great engineer. Despite his young age, Igor was already a very experienced tourist and was appointed group leader.
Semyon (Alexander) Zolotarev, born in 1921, is the oldest, and perhaps the most strange and mysterious member of the group. According to Zolotarev’s passport, his name was Semyon, but he asked everyone to call himself Sasha. A participant in the Second World War, who was incredibly lucky - of the conscripts born in 1921-22, only 3% survived. After the war, Zolotarev worked as a tourism instructor, and in the early fifties he graduated from the Minsk Physical Education Institute - the same one located on Yakub Kolas Square. According to some researchers of the death of the Dyatlov group, Semyon Zolotarev served in SMERSH during the war, and in the post-war years he secretly worked in the KGB.
Alexander Kolevatov And Georgy Krivonischenko. Two more “unusual” members of Dyatlov’s group. Kolevatov was born in 1934, and before studying at the Sverdlovsk UPI he managed to work at the secret institute of the Ministry of Medium Engineering in Moscow. Krivonischenko worked in the closed Ural city of Ozyorsk, where that same top-secret facility producing weapons-grade plutonium existed. Both Kolevatov and Krivonischenko will be closely associated with one of the versions of the death of the Dyatlov group.
The remaining six participants in the hike were, perhaps, unremarkable - all were UPI students, approximately the same age and similar biographies.
What searchers found at the site of the group's death.
The hike of the Dyatlov group took place in “normal mode” until February 1, 1959 - this can be judged from the surviving records of the group, as well as from photographic films from four cameras, which captured the tourist life of the guys. The records and photographs are interrupted on January 31, 1959, when the group parked on the slope of Mount Kholat-Syakhyl, this happened on the afternoon of February 1 - on this day (or on the night of February 2) the entire Dyatlov group died.
What happened to the Dyatlov group? Searchers who went to the Dyatlov group’s camp site on February 26 saw the following picture - the Dyatlov group’s tent was partially covered with snow, ski poles and an ice ax were sticking out near the entrance, Igor Dyatlov’s storm jacket was on the ice ax, and scattered belongings of the Dyatlov group were found around the tent ". Neither valuables nor money inside the tent were affected.
The next day, searchers found the bodies of Krivonischenko and Doroshenko - the bodies lay side by side near the remains of a small fire, while the bodies were practically naked, and broken cedar branches were scattered around - which supported the fire. 300 meters from the cedar the body of Igor Dyatlov was discovered, who was also dressed very strangely - he was without a hat or shoes.
In March, April and May, the bodies of the remaining members of the Dyatlov group were successively found - Rustem Slobodin (also very strangely dressed), Lyudmila Dubinina, Thibault-Brignolle, Kolevatov and Zolotarev. Some of the bodies had traces of severe, intravital injuries - depressed fractures of the ribs, a fracture of the base of the skull, the absence of eyes, a crack in the frontal bone (in Rustem Slobodin), etc. The presence of similar injuries on the bodies of dead tourists gave rise to a variety of versions of what could have happened at the Dyatlov Pass on February 1-2, 1959.
Version number one is an avalanche.
Perhaps the most banal and, in my opinion, the most stupid version of the death of the group (which, nevertheless, is adhered to by many, including those who personally visited the Dyatlov Pass). According to the “avalanche watchers”, the tent of the tourists who had stopped for a parking lot and who were inside at that moment was covered by an avalanche - because of which the guys had to cut the tent from the inside and go down the slope.
Many facts put an end to this version - the tent discovered by the search engines was not at all crushed by a snow slab, but was only partially covered with snow. For some reason, the movement of snow (“avalanche”) did not knock down the ski poles that stood calmly around the tent. Also, the “avalanche” theory cannot explain the selective effect of the avalanche - the avalanche supposedly crushed the chests and maimed some of the guys, but did not in any way touch the things inside the tent - all of them, including the fragile and easily wrinkled ones, were in perfect order. At the same time, things inside the tent were randomly scattered - something that an avalanche certainly could not have done.
In addition, in the light of the “avalanche” theory, the flight of the “Dyatlovites” down the slope looks absolutely ridiculous - they usually run away from an avalanche to the side. Plus, the avalanche version does not in any way explain the movement downwards of the seriously injured “Dyatlovites” - it is absolutely impossible to go with such severe (consider it fatal) injuries, and most likely the tourists received them already at the bottom of the slope.
Version number two is a rocket test.
Supporters of this version believe that precisely in those places in the Urals where Dyatlov’s expedition took place, a test of some kind of ballistic missile or something like a “vacuum bomb” took place. According to supporters of this version, a rocket (or its parts) fell somewhere near the Dyatlov group’s tent, or something exploded, which caused severe injuries to part of the group and the panicked flight of the remaining participants.
However, the “rocket” version also does not explain the main thing - how exactly did the seriously injured members of the group walk several kilometers down the slope? Why are there no signs of an explosion or other chemical impact on either the things or the tent itself? Why were things inside the tent scattered, and the half-naked guys, instead of returning to the tent for warm clothes, started making a fire 1.5 kilometers away?
And in general, according to available Soviet sources, no missile tests were carried out in the winter of 1959 in the Urals.
Version number three - « controlled delivery » .
Perhaps the most detective and most interesting version of all - a researcher of the death of the Dyatlov group named Rakitin even wrote an entire book about this version called “Death on the Trail” - where he examined this version of the death of the group in detail and in detail.
The essence of the version is as follows. Three of the members of the Dyatlov group - namely Zolotarev, Kolevatov and Krivonischenko were recruited by the KGB and were supposed to meet with a group of foreign intelligence officers during the campaign - who, in turn, were supposed to receive from the Dyatlov group secret radio samples of what was produced at the Mayak plant “—for this purpose, the “Dyatlovites” had with them two sweaters with radio materials applied to them (radioactive sweaters were actually found by search engines).
According to the KGB's plan, the guys were supposed to transfer radio materials to unsuspecting intelligence officers, and at the same time quietly photograph them and remember the signs - so that the KGB could later “lead” them and eventually reach a large network of spies that allegedly worked around closed cities in the Urals . At the same time, only three recruited members of the group were privy to the details of the operation—the other six did not suspect anything.
The meeting took place on the mountainside after setting up a tent, and during communication with the Dyatlovites, a group of foreign intelligence officers (most likely disguised as ordinary tourists) suspected something was wrong and discovered a KGB “set-up” - for example, they noticed an attempt to deceive them, after which decided to liquidate the entire group and leave along forest paths.
It was decided to frame the liquidation of the Dyatlov group as a banal domestic robbery - at the threat of firearms, the scouts ordered the “Dyatlovites” to undress and go down the slope. Rustem Slobodin, who decided to resist, was beaten, and later died on the way down the slope. After which a group of scouts turned over all the things in the tent, looking for Semyon Zolotarev’s camera (apparently, it was he who tried to photograph them) and cut up the tent from the inside so that the “Dyatlovites” could not return to it.
Later, as darkness fell, the scouts noticed a fire near the cedar - which the Dyatlovites, who were freezing at the bottom of the slope, were trying to light; they went down and finished off the surviving members of the group. It was decided not to use firearms so that those who would investigate the murder of the group would not have unambiguous versions of what happened and obvious “traces” that could send the military to comb the nearby forests in search of spies.
In my opinion, this is a very interesting version, which, however, also has a number of shortcomings - firstly, it is completely unclear why foreign intelligence officers needed to kill the Dyatlovites hand-to-hand, without using weapons - this is quite risky, plus it has no practical meaning - they could not help but know that the bodies would not be found until spring, when the spies would already be far away.
Secondly, according to the same Rakitin, there could not have been more than 2-3 scouts. At the same time, broken fists were found on the bodies of many “Dyatlovites” - in the “controlled delivery” version, this means that the guys fought with spies - which makes it unlikely that the beaten scouts would run down to the cedar and even finish off the surviving “Dyatlovites” hand-to-hand.
In general, many questions remain here...
Mystery 33 frames. Instead of an epilogue.
A surviving member of the Dyatlov group, Yuri Yudin, believed that the guys were definitely killed by people - in Yuri’s opinion, the “Dyatlov group” witnessed some secret Soviet tests, after which they were killed by the military - framing the matter in such a way that it was not clear what happened there actually. Personally, I am also inclined to the version that people killed the Dyatlov group, and the real chain of events was known to the authorities - but no one was in a hurry to tell the people about what really happened there.
And instead of an epilogue, I would like to post this last frame from the film of the “Dyatlov group” - according to many researchers of the death of the group, it is in it that we need to look for the answer to the question of what really happened on February 1, 1959 - someone sees in In this blurry, out-of-focus frame, there are traces of a rocket falling from the sky, and someone - the faces of scouts looking into the tent of the Dyatlov group.
However, according to another version, there is no mystery in this frame - it was taken by a forensic expert to discharge the camera and develop the film...
So it goes.
What do you think really happened to the Dyatlov group? Which version is better for you?
Write in the comments if it’s interesting.