A group of students is found dead under mysterious conditions on a skiing trip to Dyatlov Pass into the Ural Mountains, 60 years ago. Countless articles, books, and documentaries have sought to unravel the mystery revolving around the death of hikers without much success.

On January 23, 1959, a group of ten students, mostly from Ural Polytechnic, set off on a 14-day ski trip under the direction of Igor Dyatlov, a fifth-year student.

The group, consisting of eight men and two women, was aiming to cover 190 miles and cross the North Ural Mountains, the range dividing Europe and Asia. However, the group was found dead under mysterious conditions.

The area through which the Dyatlov Pass hiking route passed was not sufficiently studied before. Also, there were no detailed public maps of the area at the time.

Igor Dyatlov, leader of the group, appealed for help from Yuri Yudin, a geologist and pilot. Yuri helped Igor develop an optimal hiking route. Their sports club did not even have a map of the area where Dyatlov would lead his group.

It turned out that Dyatlov did not agree with anyone about the exact route of the group. The route book was without a map of the group’s hiking route. Dyatlov group had discussed various options for the ideal hiking route, and Igor was supposed to send the final version for approval of his sports club, but he did not.

The goal of the 14-day expedition was to reach Otorten (1234.2m), a mountain 10 km (6 miles) north of the site of the incident. This route, at that season, was estimated as “Category III”, the most difficult. All the members were well-experienced in long ski tours and mountain expeditions. The group arrived by train at Ivdel, a city at the centre of the northern province of Sverdlovsk Oblast on January 25, 1959. They then took a truck to Vizhay – the last inhabited settlement so far north.

On January 27, 1959, they started their march toward Otorten from Vizhay. The next day, Yuri Yudin, one of the members, fell sick at the outset and had no other option but to return. He was fortunate to avoid the fate of the other hikers. He did not have the slightest idea about what was going to happen to his comrades. 

On the night of February 1, 1959, the hikers had comfortably camped themselves on a snowy slope. They were preparing to sleep when something inexplicable happened and they met a grisly end. The cause of these deaths remains an unresolved mystery even after a long period of six decades.

Diaries and cameras found around their last camp made it possible to track the group’s route up to the day preceding the incident.

After a frantic search, a team of rescuers found the abandoned tent of hikers on February 26, 1959. The tent was ripped apart from the inside. Footprints of the hikers were found in the surrounding area, some wearing only a single shoe, some barefoot, and some wearing only socks. The trail of footprints led to a nearby forest where the first two bodies were found – without shoes and only in their underwear. The remaining seven bodies were found in the following months.

Initially, rescuers believed hypothermia to be the cause of the hikers’ deaths; however, the medical examination of the bodies ruled this out. The bodies bore the marks of grisly assault-like injuries. One body had injuries as if caused by a brutal assault; another body had third-degree burns; one had been vomiting blood; one was missing a tongue. The investigators also found the presence of a radioactive substance on hikers’ clothing.

A criminal investigation into the case concluded “spontaneous power of nature” was to be blamed for the hikers’ deaths. The investigation remained classified until the 1970s.

Russia reopened the investigation in 2019, which concluded hypothermia was behind the hikers’ death. Investigators believed a combination of avalanches forced the group to leave their camp and thereby suffer hypothermia.

However, these explanations fail to explain why the hikers had rushed out into the freezing weather wearing only underwear and without shoes. The investigation also did not address why several of the group had suffered broken bones and skulls.

Numerous theories doing rounds about the possible cause of hikers’ death include alien abduction, KGB interference, drug overdose, gravity anomalies, and Yeti. There is also a theory suggesting hikers were killed by the Mansi tribe, who consider the mountains to be spiritually symbolic.

Yuri Yudin was the sole survivor of the Dyatlov Pass Incident. His death further deepens the mystery. Shortly before his death, the seventy-five-year-old Yuri locked himself in an apartment. He told his friends and acquaintances that he was writing a novel about the Dyatlov Pass incident and wanted reclusion. However, he was found dead a little later. Also, there was no manuscript of the novel, only numerous newspaper clippings about the ill-fated pass and attempts to substantiate what had happened.

Like other similar mysteries of the lost colony of Roanoke Island and Kuldhara, the Dyatlov Pass incident remains unresolved and enigmatic to the inquisitive seekers.

The Dyatlov Pass Incident – a fictional movie based on the incident, was released in 2013. The film was directed by Renny Harlin. The movie revolves around five American students retracing the steps of the victims.

The incident also made it to television episodes through National Geographic and the Discovery channel.

Teodora Hadjiyska is considered to be an authority in this case. She has painstakingly developed the most comprehensive website on the mysterious Dyatlov Pass Incident.

Even after six decades, no one has so far managed to uncover the mystery of events that unfolded on that fateful night at Dyatlov Pass.

You may also like to read some of the most notable unsolved cases of all time – Jack the Ripper, Stoneman murders, Voynich Manuscript, Mysterious Pan Am Flight, Mysterious Hijacker, Mysterious Circleville Letters.

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