Dyatlov Pass Part 1

Astonishing Legends vor 10 Jahren

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Background:

On January 27, 1959, a group of outdoor enthusiasts, known as
'tourists' in Russia, consisting of seven men and two women,
mostly students and graduates of the Ural Polytechnical Institute
(which is now the Ural Federal University) left the village of
Vizhay in the northern Ural Mountains on a two-week ski trek,
through a region called Sverdlovsk Oblast, the "gateway to
Siberia" in Russia. In Russia a 'tourist' is a serious
outdoorsman. The goal was to reach Otorten Mountain at the end of
their journey. Their planned route would rank as a
"Category III," the most difficult classification for a hiking
expedition in winter, which if successful, would qualify them as
"Masters of Sport." On February 1st as they started to move
through a mountain pass on their last leg of the trip, bad
weather and decreasing visibility forced them off course, and the
group decided to make camp on the eastern slope of a small
mountain called Kholat Syakhl by the indigenous Mansi peoples,
which translates to "Dead Mountain" due to the area's lack of
wild game. Sometime during the night of February 2nd, the
group suffered an unimaginably terrifying ordeal, sealing their
fate. When they hadn't been heard from by February 20th, a
search party was formed to look for the missing youths. On
February 26th the search party reached their camp and what they
found would bring more questions than answers. It appeared
as though something had scared the hikers so badly, that they
panicked and ripped a hole in the side of their tent in order to
escape, shoeless, into - 20º F (-29º C) snowfall. It was
determined by Soviet authorities that the group had met with a
"compelling unknown force" causing them all to flee and
ultimately die of exposure with some also suffering significant
internal injuries such as broken ribs and fractured skulls.
There have since been many theories put forth as to what this
force actually was, but we may never know what was so horrific
that it caused this group of experienced adventurers to take
leave of their senses and take their chances in the deadly
wilderness. Following the incident, the mountain pass was
named "Dyatlov Pass" in honor of the group's leader, Igor
Dyatlov.

Tonight's Quote:

"I wonder what awaits us in this hike? Will anything new happen?"
- Zina Kolmogorova from her last diary entry.

Show Links: (Links work best in iOS on iTunes or on our webpage
at astonishinglegends.com)

Archive of a very comprehensive website about the whole Dyatlov
story Dyatlov Pass on Wiki Terrific archive of all the photos
from the group, in English and Russian Russian website about
Dyatlov Forum on the Dyatlov incident Donnie Eichar's "Authors at
Google" interview about his book, "Dead Mountain" Book Review of
"Dead Mountain" Song: Pixies "Wave of Mutilation" from the album,
"Doolittle" YouTube vid about Dyatlov - text pulled from Wiki
entry but has good photos Interesting story about a family living
isolated for 40 years in Siberia Russian Yeti at Dyatlov? Part 1
of "Golden Symphony" Ellorsith on BandCamp

For more information on this episode visit our website!

Credits:

Episode 023 - 'Dyatlov Pass (Part 1)' Produced by Scott Philbrook
& Forrest Burgess; Ryan McCullough Sound Design; Research
Assistance by Tess Pfeifle. Copyright Scott Philbrook &
Forrest Burgess 2015, All Rights Reserved.