The Expedition

On January 27th, 1959, a group of ten hikers, led by Igor Dyatlov, began their expedition in the rugged Ural Mountains in the Soviet Union. The group was comprised of university students, engineers, and other professionals, all of whom were seasoned survivalists well-equipped for such an endeavor.

Their goal was to hike to the summit of Mount Otorten, also known as Kholat Syakhl, which translates to “Dead Mountain.” In the local Mansi language, Mount Otorten translates to “Don’t Go There,” a warning which this group did not heed.

On January 26th, the group arrived in a logging community known as District 41. They stayed there for the night, and on January 27th, they hired a sled to take them to the abandoned North-2 mining settlement, where they camped for the night on the banks of the Lozva River.

Photo of the 41st settlement logging base (BBC)

The following day, group member Yuri Yudin left the group and took the sled back to District 41, as he was suffering from sciatica pain and did not feel he could make the journey; this decision made him the lone survivor of the entire team.

The group continued their journey to reach Mount Ortorten. They spent a few nights on the banks of the Auspiya River. Finally, on February 1st, they were ready to begin their final climb. They made a cache to shed excess weight from their backpacks and began their hike up the mountain. They went 500 meters off their previously planned route, but managed to cover a distance of 2 kilometers. The group set up camp on the northern slope of Mount Ortorten.

The conditions were bleak, as the expedition was happening in the middle of the harsh Soviet winter. The temperatures dropped as low as -30°C, but these experienced survivalists knew how to handle the cold.

Photo of some of the hikers (History Collection)

They had carefully laid their plans for the journey, anticipating they would complete the expedition in two weeks. The group agreed to send a telegram from their destination, and they were expected to arrive on February 12th.

By mid-February, friends and family had become increasingly concerned that they had not heard from anyone in the group. The concerns were reported, and the search for the Dyatlov group began.

Search Efforts

The search party set out on February 20th to locate the missing hikers. It took five days, but their campsite was finally discovered on the slope of the mountain. What the search team found at their campsite kicked off a series of horrific and strange discoveries.

The tent had been cut open from the inside. Most of the hiker’s belongings remained in the tent, including food, clothing, boots, and blankets.

Photo of the search party (History Collection)

Footprints revealed that most of the hikers had been barefoot or wearing only their socks, with one person wearing a boot on only one foot. The trail led the search team 500 meters away from the campsite toward a nearby forest; it was here that they found the first two bodies.

Yuri Doroshenko and Yuri Krivonischenko were found lying side by side, perfectly parallel, beneath a cedar tree. They were dressed in inadequate clothing for the temperature, including swimming trunks, and both wore socks but no shoes. Near the bodies, there was evidence of a small fire, which had only burned for a short time.

Upon examination of the bodies, both had sustained a variety of injuries. Doroshenko had some bruising on his side, burns on his head and hair, blood around his face, and a foamy gray liquid seeping from his mouth.

His injuries were described by experts as non-life-threatening in nature, although the grey foam suggests a possible pulmonary edema, which can be caused by cardiac issues or immense pressure applied to a person’s chest.

Krivonischenko’s leg and foot were burned, and he had bruising on his lower body and chest. They both had bloody and raw hands and knuckles, and investigators found human skin and blood in the tree bark leading up to the broken branches. The official cause of death for both was ruled to be hypothermia.

Photo of the area where Yuri Doroshenko and Yuri Krivonischenko were found (History Collection)

The same day, investigators found the bodies of Igor Dyatlov and Zina Kolmogorova. Several days later, on March 5th, the search team located the body of Rustem Slobodin. Their bodies were between the cedar tree and the group’s campsite, as if they were attempting to make their way back to the tent.

Slaughter in the Mountains: The Horrifying…

Comments on this post are for paid subscribers