What Happened at Dyatlov Pass? True Story Behind the Terrifying Dyatlov Pass Incident

The mystery of Dyatlov Pass remains one of the strangest unsolved cases ever. It is also the most famous mystery that has come out of Russia in the paranormal field (at least, it is the most widely known one). The incident trickled through the stringent Iron Curtain and managed to capture the imagination of the west during the heights of the cold war; a feat very few incidents were capable of. And why not? From the wilderness to bigfoot, it has all the tropes of a good horror story, albeit true.

In the year 1959, a group of ten set out along the trekking range to reach the northern parts of the Lozva River near the Ural Mountains of the then Soviet Union (modern-day Russia). It was supposed to be another beautiful and adventurous hike, and every member of the group was experienced in what they were doing. An expedition through Sverdlovsk Oblast was selected and approved by the Sverdlovsk city route commission. With no hiccups so far, the group, quite pleased with their luck, got going. As most of the group had trekked through the mountain range before, there was no need for second thoughts or great precautions; after all, they were grade 3 experienced hikers, hardened for the event.

The merry group set off on the 23rd of January 1959, embarking on the ill-fated journey with their issued route guide, but before they did, a middle-aged man called Semyon Zolotaryov, joined the group. Semyon would prove to be quite a mysterious member because of his shrouded past. The man had served during the Secord World War, but there were rumors circulating that the real Semyon never returned, and instead, it was an imposter.

(Left)The Group posing for a picture (Right), the Members of Dyatlov Pass Hiking Group

The group of hikers was led by Igor Dyatlov, a 23-year-old student. The group aimed to travel through Otorten Mountain. The mountain was a Category-III place, but the hikers, with their experience in traversing through difficult mountain ranges, were expected to complete the journey with ease. However, one of the hikers, Yuri Yefimovich Yudin, soon developed severe knee and joint aches and had to cut the trip short. Before he left, Dyatlov promised to send him a telegram by the 12th of February. Yuri returned, but weeks later, the 12^th of February came and went. First, it was brushed off, since delays were to be expected during such expeditions, but when the 12th of February turned to the 20th, he realized something had gone horribly wrong.

A Horror Story in the Making

Yuri soon reported to the local authorities, who escalated the incident to the higher-ups. Soon, an extensive search was launched. As the area was a popular site for experienced hikers and well charted out, the investigators were clueless as to what could have thrown the hikers off their schedule. As the officials started sweeping the area, however, they realized that there was no trace of the group along the agreed route. The search and rescue operation, which went on for days, soon found itself stretching into weeks. However, the first signs of evidence wouldn’t be found until about a month later, when searchers rummaging through the snowy mountain slopes of the Russian tundra, found an abandoned campsite on Kholat Syakhl, also known as the “Silent Peak” or the “Dead Mountain”.

(Left) The Group Setting Out For the Mountains (Right) The Group, Moving Towards the Mountain

The scene was terrifying. The tent was wrecked, torn apart from the inside. The belongings of the hikers, including canned food and clothes, were lying inside, discarded. Nine sets of footprints were found, leading away from the tent. The footprints scattered in different directions, as though they had left with great haste and under distress. As the search party narrowed the search to the slope where the tent was found, they discovered more gnarly evidence. Clothes were scattered around, and there were traces of a campfire. Near the campfire, they found their hikers. Or rather, what remained of them.

Krivonischenko and Doroshenko were found dressed in nothing but a pair of underwear. They were in the vicinity of each other, as though the duo had spent their final moments together. Confused and horrified, the search party frantically surveyed the surroundings, photographing the bodies and the environment. As they did, they discovered a bent and oddly twisted pine tree. It seemed that either someone had tried climbing it, or something had swung through the branches with great force. As more searchers were called into the location, the search area was widened, and soon, three other near-naked bodies were discovered. Their position seemed to tell that they had died trying to find their way back to the camp. The bodies belonged to Slobodin, Kolmogorova, and, Captain Dyatlov.

The rest of the campers were nowhere to be seen, but the search party wanted to give the families of the victims a sense of closure and pressed on through the subzero weather. They spent two months in the frigid mountainside until they discovered the remains of the final four hikers, buried 13 feet deep in the snow. Though they were clothed, they were wearing the clothes of their comrades.

What Happened at Dyatlov Pass?

As per the legal procedure, an autopsy was conducted on the remains of the victims. The presiding doctor Boris Alekseevich Vozrozhdenny concluded that five of them died due to hypothermia; however, the cause of death of the remaining four sent shivers down the spines of the public and made them wonder what transpired on that mountainside. Three of the four victims had endured severe blunt force trauma, with two of them struck hard on their chests and one, on the head. Their injuries were similar to what was seen in severe accidents, and car crashes. However, the doctors, nor the police could come up with anything meaningful, and they were forced to conclude that a sudden shift in atmospheric pressure did this. However, this conclusion provided more questions than answers. What caused this sudden fluctuation in the pressure? And most importantly, why were they the only ones to be affected? Why did the other five die of hypothermia instead of the pressure?

(Left) The Destroyed Tent, and (Right) Dubinina’s body, lying against the stream

To make matters even more bizarre (if possible), many of the victims showed signs of external mutilations. Zolotaryov was missing his eyeballs. Aleksander didn’t have any eyebrows, and Dubinina’s tongue, eyes, lips, and fragments of her skull seemed to have disappeared. Though the examiners and officials concluded that this was due to the bodies being located near a stream, the rest of their bodies were untouched.

Have Scientists Found an Answer to The Dyatlov Pass Incident?

After years of debates and discussions, it was finally concluded that a sudden snow slab or an avalanche caused the accident. The hikers fled the tents in the middle of the night and tried to seek shelter on treetops. As February usually has heavy snowfall in the region, this only strengthened the theory. The decreased visibility with increasing altitude made them frantic on the frigid, blind winter night, and they lost their way. It is believed that many of the victims went into a severely hypothermic state, and they took off their clothes, believing that it was getting warmer. This is a phenomenon found in many victims of hypothermia, and is known as paradox undressing. A renewed investigation later revealed that the hikers weren’t experienced enough for hiking through such adverse weather conditions.

However, these theories were soon met with great criticism. There hadn’t been an avalanche in the Dyatlov Pass before (now named after the captain, Dyatlov), and there was no reason for one, either. Soon, UFOs, Bigfoot, and the Yeti were blamed, but few hold an opinion against the Mansi, the tribe that lives in the mountain range. However, subsequent investigations cleared their name. An eccentric but probable cause was put forward by author Donnie Eichar in his book “Dead Mountain.” He stated that the wind conditions along the Kholat Syakal could have created a vortex street producing infrared radiation. To validate his claim, he pointed to the collected evidence that traces of radiation were found on the clothes of the deceased trekkers. This could have started disorientation and discord among the hikers. While no amount of investigation might ever solve the mysterious occurrence, many believe that the incident has roots in the paranormal.

New Leads and More Questions

In 2018, Zolotarev’s corpse was exhumed for renewed investigation. To everyone’s shock, the DNA did not match that of Zolotarev’s relatives. During a virtual facial reconstruction from the skull using AI, it was revealed that the face matched a post-war Zolotarev’s, but the DNA wasn’t matching. This soon led to speculations that the man, a World War Two veteran, could be someone else, claiming to be Zolotarev. The real Zolotarev could have perished in the war, but a mysterious man with an unknown past could have taken his place. Either way, the dead tell no tales.

Rest in Peace, victims.

If you’re interested in more mysteries from the wilderness, try the Mysterious Disappearances from Bennington Triangle, or the True Story Behind the Hills Have Eyes franchise