The Frightening, Unsolved and Disturbing Incident of Nine Dead Skiers

Read about this a little while ago. The case is about nine experienced cross country skiers, on a skiing expedition, whom were all found deceased in mysterious and eerie circumstances. To this day it has yet to be explained. The following information is from diary entries and phtographic evidence, which gives a basic picture of the events leading up to the mystery.

The Story

Ten skiers, eight men and two women, set off on a skiing expedition to Otorten Mountain in the northern Urals on Jan. 28, 1959. Yury Yudin (the only surviving member), fell ill at the last stop before their destitination, and left the group. Little did he know at this time, it would be the last time he saw his friends alive.

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At approximately 5:00pm on February the 2nd the group, led by Igor Dyatlov, pitched tents on the slopes of Otorten Mountains neighbour, Kholat-Syakhl. The site of the camp was unusual for an experienced cross country skier, considering that it was out in the open, rather than in woodland nearby. Yury Yidin assumes that Dyatlov's decision was down to having practice at camping on a mountain slope.

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Dyaltov was supposed to send a telegram back to the Ural Polytechnic Institute, where the skiers set off from, on February the 12th. This was the time the group had expected to be back from their expedition, and sent from Ural town, Vizhai. According to Yudin, Dyaltov told him (as he was left behind), to expect the group to be a day or two late, just in case. No telegram ever came, and on February the 20th, the relatives of the skiers raised the alarm to the army and the police, who in turn launched a search and rescue team.

What they found

On the 26th of February, rescuers found the camp. Strangely it was completely abandoned. Even more alarming, was the fact that searchers found that all the skiers personal belongings, including there shoes, and cold weather gear, still inside the their tents. The tent was half torn down, and partially covered with snow. There were some indicators that the tent had been sliced open from the inside. No evidenc of a struggle was found either, yet it was clear the skiers had left in a hurry.

In the metre or so of snow, investigators found 9 sets of footprints, giving the impression that the only people present at the camp site, were in fact those that were meant to be there. What was strange about this, was that some of the tracks left, were left by people wearing socks, one shoe, or no footwear at all.

The Bodies

About five hundred metres down slope, at the edge of the nearby forrest, the investigators found the first two of the bodies, under a very large pine tree. Georgy Krivonischenko, and Yury Doroshenko, were barefoot and dressed in their underclothes, and it was determined they had died from hypothermia.

Broken branches around the base of the tree and the bodies, indicated that one of them had climbed the tree. This was confirmed when broken branches to five metres on the tree were discovered. Possibly they were searching for the camp, or other members of the group, or maybe something more sinister. It was also evident that the duo had tried to start a fire, as charred remains of branches had been found.

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Approximately half way between the edge of the forrest and the camp, three more bodies were found. Igor Dyatlov, Zina Kolmogorova, and Rustem Slobodin were discovered facing towards the camp. Officals determined that it was probable that the trio, were attempting to return to the camp. Although Slobodin's skull had apparently been fractured, doctors determined that it wasnt a fatal injury. Again, these three all died of hypothermia according to autopsies.

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Two Months Later

This is where the story becomes extremely bizzare. Two months after the discovery of the first five bodies, the remaining four were found. Under four metres of snow, in a ravine, and 75 metres away from the pine tree mentioned earlier.

Nicolas Thibeaux-Brignollel, , Alexander Zolotaryov, and Alexander Kolevatov, had all suffered serious injuries, and traumatic deaths. Thibeaux-Brignollel's skull had been crushed, and Dubinina and Zolatarev had numerous broken ribs. All four of the skiers had died from massive internal injuries, doctors compared to those found if someone had been hit car. However, unlike a car accident, the bodies showed no signs of external injury, including bruises or soft tissue damage. The most disturbing thing of all was that Ludmila Dubinina's tongue had been removed!!!

These four were a lot better dressed than the other five. It had appeared they had made it back to camp, or taken clothes from those that were deceased. Another point to be made, was that there were high levels of radiation found within the clothes when they were tested.

A few months later, the case was closed, and the files were allegedly sent to a secret military archive. The investigators found no evidence of wrong doing against one another. Also soon after area was closed off for three years to skiers and other adventurers.

Flying Spheres

Most of the details of the event, were attempted to be hidden from public view. One of the reasons for this was that, according to Lev Ivanov (head investigator), regional officials had been worried by reports from civilians, weather service employees and even the military of "flying spheres", in the area over February and March, 1959. Ivanov speculated that the spheres had something to do with the mysterious cirumstances of the event.

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So, what are peoples ideas on the what happened there? Were these flying spheres the cause, or was it something more?










[edit on 9/4/2009 by OzWeatherman]

Have you done any refference checks to see if any similiar occurances have happened? From that time forward or even before?
It would be a good idea to find out. Maybe not in the exact area but in areas surrounding or areas with the same types of weather patterns.

This is also known as the Dyatlov Pass incident, an intriguing story - I've read quite a bit about this but never seen any pics before, it's a fascinating series of events that is surrounded in mystery and conspiracies still to this day. There never seems to be clear suggestions of how these people met their unfortunate and quite grim demise.

S&F for you my friend

I'm sorry but I couldn't get past the first line

Ten skiers, three men and two women

Huh? And the article title says 9.

[edit on 9-4-2009 by jjkenobi]

That is VERY interesting.
Star and flag!!
The part where the tent looked cut open from the inside is a little strange for me.
This is a very weird story indeed.
Their behavior doesn't make sense to me.
The tree climbing part they could have been trying to find their wandering friends but in bare feet???
I think they were very spooked by something for sure...enough to make them act irrationally.
If they all split up then I am thinking they just scattered like cockroaches at whatever they saw.
What spooked them??

Wow, I've never heard of this before, its wild!! Especially the part about the footprints. Makes you wonder man, what is really out there. Do you know if the tounge was ripped, or sliced, or how was it removed? This would make a good movie with one of those open ended endings.

My first instinct is that one of the following scenarios happened...

1. They were attacked by a wild animal, left the camp through fear. The deceased between the camp and the woods had tried to make their way back and failed, or had fallen on the journey. The ones found in the ravine had gone for help, being the ones more suitably dressed.

2. One of the group lost their sanity. Possibly due to altitude sickness? They attacked the others and chased them (only their footprints found right?). One climbed the tree (possibly the one who faced the brunt of the attack) to escape harm. The others ran back to camp to retrieve clothing or for safety but a couple fell. The ones who made it to camp gathered clothes and returned to help their friend, found him dead and the attacker gone. The attacker then followed them and they all fell into the ravine.

There are many scenarios around option 2. But I am almost certain that this involved one of the team losing their sanity and being responsible for the deaths of the others. It is clear that they feared the camp for one reason or another, and the most likely reason is that one had lost control.

I'm not too certain of the radiation testing. What did they do for a living? this is in a region and at a time where radiation testing was rife. It was a relatively unknown and uncontrolled science.
Why did they test for radiation to being with? That alone suggests that at least one of them was involved in the science and that is was obviously a cause for concern to others in the field.

So, my guess is that one went mental, attacked the others and they died trying to escape them, or died due to the attack. The attacker was probably one of those who was found dead due to exposure. And probably the one who had the time to build a fire.

Originally posted by jjkenobi
I'm sorry but I couldn't get past the first line

Ten skiers, three men and two women

Huh? And the article title says 9.

[edit on 9-4-2009 by jjkenobi]

There were 10 in the original party, I meant to say 7 men (edidting it now). Like I stated in the opening post, one of the members, Yury Yudin was left behind because he was ill. He is in the first image, hugging one of the female members just before they left him. So he survived

Originally posted by xoxo stacie
Have you done any refference checks to see if any similiar occurances have happened? From that time forward or even before?
It would be a good idea to find out. Maybe not in the exact area but in areas surrounding or areas with the same types of weather patterns.

No I havent.

I spent a long period of time researching the incident itself, so Im all researched out at the moment.

Good point though, its worth a look, star for you

Originally posted by stereovoyaged
Do you know if the tounge was ripped, or sliced, or how was it removed? This would make a good movie with one of those open ended endings.

I couldnt find any more information on the removal of the tongue. All the source says is that the tongue was missing, so Im assuming it wasnt near the bodies either. Very intriguing to say the least

Very interesting story Oz. It has a Blair Witch/Urban Myth feeling to it. I'd be very interested in seeing the proper autopsy reports or death certificates for these people.

S&F

IRM

The radiation in the clothing is weird...

Was there any other anomalies in the autopsies?

Also, is there any online sources for this story?



Great thread btw

reply to post by Chadwickus


Here's a couple.

www.sptimes.ru...

www.freerepublic.com...

there's also a wiki entry for it:
en.wikipedia.org...

infodjatlov.narod.ru... (some pictures)

Very interesting and intriguing - awesome find!

That is a good mystery, besides being quite bizarre.

Nice!

Thanks for that.

Here's an interesting note from the wiki page:

Some reports suggested that much scrap metal was located in the area, leading to speculation that the military had utilized the area secretly and might be engaged in a cover-up.

It was ultimately discovered that what happened was an avalanche that occurred setting the string of events in play. The avalanche destroyed a large portion of the camp and those who were in their tents cut their way out. After a period of exposure, the skiers developed severe hypothermia. One of the odd things about hypothermia is that it can cause those affected to behave very strangely, i.e., removing articles of clothing in attempts to warm themselves. This occurs secondarily to a decreased amount of cerebral blood flow, thereby inhibiting the brain from processing input properly. It is somewhat of a commonplace occurrence for hypothermic patients to remove clothes actually.
The missing tongue is also easily explained in that it was most likely removed by a wild animal. Animals will tend to eat warm, soft tissue rather than cold, toughened tissue, i.e., frozen muscle in a state of rigor mortis. Going after the tongue makes perfect sense in this case since the mouth would most likely have been closed, therefore retaining a greater amount of heat and thereby attracting the animal(s).
This was essentially a perfect storm of crappy things to happen, but it has been explained adequately enough to rule out extremely non-parsimonious explanations.

[edit on 9-4-2009 by raptor28]

reply to post by raptor28


The problem is the tents were still above the snow and footprints were still visible.

You can see a couple of the tents here:

Link 1

Link 2

I don't really believe that, raptor. Too many things are 'out of place'. While there could have been an onset of some strange dementia, the shape of some of the bodies (not including the one with the missing tongue), doesn't quite coincide with anything pertaining to physical violence from any of the party.
Who knows, really?

Originally posted by raptor28
It was ultimately discovered that what happened was an avalanche that occurred setting the string of events in play. The avalanche destroyed a large portion of the camp and those who were in their tents cut their way out.

Good idea apart from a few things, do you have a source?

It is somewhat of a commonplace occurrence for hypothermic patients to remove clothes actually.

Source for that? I have heard of incoherent behaviour such as terminal burrowing occuring, but only in later stages. The five that were confirmed ead rom hyporthermia, were all found out in the open

The missing tongue is also easily explained in that it was most likely removed by a wild animal. Animals will tend to eat warm, soft tissue rather than cold, toughened tissue, i.e., frozen muscle in a state of rigor mortis. Going after the tongue makes perfect sense in this case since the mouth would most likely have been closed, therefore retaining a greater amount of heat and thereby attracting the animal(s).

All well and good, but why werent any animal tracks observed in the area. Like I mentioned, only the nine foot prints of the deceased were found. Plsu, how would you account for the internal injuries (without any external wounds), only to the ones who didnt die of hypothermia, plus the incidence of radiation in their clothing?





[edit on 9/4/2009 by OzWeatherman]