Ahhh….True Crime – a book to relax with – (maybe?) – but I might fall asleep –
“The causes of their deaths was either calamity or overwhelming force.” So said the original Russian government report of 1959 about the violent and bloody deaths of 9 young hikers in the Urals .
Don’t Go There:
A Solution to the Dyatlov Pass Mystery,
by Svetlana Oss: 2015
Read by Chloe Cannon: 5h 47m
Rating: 7.5 / True Crime (historical)
But actually, the truth and reality of the deaths might never be known. Avalanche? … on such a low angled slope? That wasn’t even discussed as a possibility at the time. Now it’s more like a possible snow slab which slides rather than rolls? Or maybe some conspiracy of a duplicitous group like the KGB is correct? Or maybe local natives with sacred lands got murderously enraged? And there’s always the fire accidentally caused by the hikers themselves? Who knows?
This all happened in 1959, but was never resolved until Moscow concluded a new investigation in 2020. It was called for because the Russian people were so curious – like our JFK murders.
What exactly happened? Nine highly qualified and experienced Russian trekkers associated with a skiing and hiking club from a local polytechnic university decided to walk across the Urals. This would earn them their level 3 proficiency rating – (the highest).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident
Their trek would involve about 200 miles of snow and ice and it would take about 2 weeks or so. The leader, 23-year old Ivan Dyatlov (deceased with the others), for whom the expedition was named as were several memorials since then. The group started out with 8 other hiker/skiers, but one went home due to illness, so there were only 7 others, 5 males and 2 females plus Ivan. They were all killed “either calamity or overwhelming force,” according to official sources at the time.
Over the years … er … decades, many theories have been advanced, from avalanches and aliens to Indigenous peoples of the Urals, to a disastrous but accidental fire to … the most recent theory I know of is concerns the movie “Frozen (2015). Between that, a few scientists, and other experts, it’s possible the mystery is now solved – ??? (Only 60 years here …)
So here’s a little starter-pack of web-sites to get you on your way catching up with the internet: https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2022/jan/03/revisited-how-a-disney-movie-helped-solve-a-decades-old-adventure-mystery-podcast
Years ago I heard about this incident and found it quite an interesting puzzle actually and the incident felt familiar even now, 20 years later, when I read the blurbs for this 2015 book. I probably remember it from a longer newspaper or magazine article which didn’t have a solid conclusion, but did point toward a preferred resolution.
I used the “category” of “True Crime/ historical” because this event occurred in 1959 and that makes it out of the actual memory of most writers today – 50 years is usually used these days.
This is an excellent site explaining a couple theories and has a very helpful YouTube video which clarifies things a LOT! This book has quite a lot of detailed information to fill in the basics of which I had a vague memory. And there’s more and more and more online.
The indigenous people of the Ural area, the Mansi and Oss are suspected by one group of amateur armchair sleuths: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansi_people
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident
Pretty extensive
https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2022/jan/03/revisited-how-a-disney-movie-helped-solve-a-decades-old-adventure-mystery-podcast
Yup – even the Guardian.
https://dyatlovpass.com/theories
A LOT of material and some good photos
https://kit10phish.wordpress.com/2023/07/
Don’t forget the fireballs –
https://www.norwegianamerican.com/dyatlov/
And here’s an excerpt from the book:
“Solving the Dyatlov Pass Mystery” in the Moscow Times:
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2015/03/29/russian-souvenirs-make-up-to-500-profit-online-despite-political-faceoff-a45248
(The link looks weird but I copied it from
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