# The Dyatlov Pass incident > Nine experienced ski-tourers died on the night of 1–2 February 1959 on the eastern slope of Kholat Syakhl in the northern Urals, after cutting their way… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-27T17:47:21+00:00 --- **MYS** 0D79DBAC768D·Mystery · event # The Dyatlov Pass incident **0** [Follow][Ask a question](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=dyatlov-pass) The Dyatlov Pass incident ![A view of the tent as the rescuers found it on Feb.](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/dyatlov-pass-lead) Unknown author · Public domain Where Eastern slope of Kholat Syakhl (height 1079), northern Urals, Sverdlovsk Oblast⁠[[1]] When Night of 1–2 February 1959⁠[[1]] Who Nine members of a Ural Polytechnic Institute ski-touring group led by Igor Dyatlov⁠[[1]] Found Tent 26 February; five bodies 27 February–5 March; four bodies 4–5 May 1959⁠[[1]] 1959 finding Death from a compelling natural force; case closed 28 May 1959⁠[[1]] 2020 finding Avalanche, followed by hypothermia (Prosecutor General's Office, 11 July 2020)⁠[[2]] Leading model Slab avalanche released by the tent's snow cut after hours of wind loading (Gaume and Puzrin, 2021)⁠[[4]] Status Partly explained Questions 0 of 3 answered People [**Igor Dyatlov** Group leader, radio engineering student](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/people/FIG0D79DCHE3EQ9/igor-dyatlov)[**Alexander M. Puzrin** Geotechnical engineer, ETH Zurich; co-author of the 2021 model](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/people/FIG0D79DE0A3WAS/alexander-m-puzrin)[**Johan Gaume** Snow and avalanche scientist, EPFL/SLF; co-author of the 2021 model](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/people/FIG0D79DDRG3HN7/johan-gaume)[**Boris Vozrozhdenny** Forensic pathologist who performed the autopsies](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/people/FIG0D79DD8W4SMJ/boris-vozrozhdenny)[**Lev Ivanov** Sverdlovsk regional prosecutor's investigator who led and closed the 1959 case](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/people/FIG0D79DD127XNK/lev-ivanov) All 7 people › [**Yuri Yudin** Tenth member, turned back on 28 January; the survivor](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/people/FIG0D79DCS81F3V/yuri-yudin)[**Andrei Kuryakov** Deputy head, Prosecutor General's directorate for the Ural Federal District; announced the 2020 finding](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/people/FIG0D79DDGP0Z4E/andrei-kuryakov) Catalog key**MYS** 0D79DBAC768D On 23 January 1959 ten students and graduates of the Ural Polytechnic Institute in Sverdlovsk left for a sixteen-day winter traverse to Otorten in the northern Urals, a route of the highest difficulty grade. One, Yuri Yudin, turned back ill on 28 January. The other nine, led by Igor Dyatlov, cached supplies in the forest on 31 January, climbed onto the open shoulder of Kholat Syakhl on 1 February, and pitched their tent on the slope in the late afternoon⁠[[1]]. They were never seen alive again. The tent was found on 26 February, cut open from the inside, with most of the group's boots, outer clothing and equipment still in it. Tracks of eight or nine people led down the slope about 1.5 km toward the forest⁠[[1]]. Two bodies lay under a large cedar at the forest edge beside the remains of a fire, in underwear; three more lay on the slope between the cedar and the tent, facing uphill, as if returning. The last four were found in May under about four metres of snow in a ravine 75 m from the cedar, on a floor of cut branches, better dressed than the others and in clothes taken from the dead⁠[[1]]. The pathologist Boris Vozrozhdenny found that six had died of hypothermia and three of injuries: multiple rib fractures in Dubinina and Zolotaryov, a skull fracture in Thibeaux-Brignolles, delivered by a force he compared to a car crash, without external wounds to match⁠[[1]]. The investigator Lev Ivanov closed the case on 28 May 1959, finding that the group died from "a compelling natural force" they could not overcome⁠[[1]]. The case has carried sixty years of explanation: avalanche, katabatic wind, infrasound-induced panic, a military test, an attack by local Mansi hunters, a secret-service operation, and stranger things. In 2019 the Prosecutor General's Office reopened it, confined itself to natural causes, and in July 2020 announced that an avalanche had struck the tent and that the group, retreating to a ridge and then to the forest for shelter, had been unable to find the tent again in visibility of about 16 m and had frozen⁠[[2]]⁠[[3]]. In January 2021 Johan Gaume and Alexander Puzrin published a physical model showing how a small slab of wind-packed snow, released hours after the group cut into the slope to level the tent, could have struck sleeping bodies with enough force to produce the injuries found, without leaving the debris field of a large avalanche⁠[[4]]. Follow-up expeditions in 2021 and 2022 found the slope steeper than the 1959 survey recorded and filmed slab avalanches on it⁠[[5]]. The avalanche reading now has a mechanism, a precedent and a terrain; what it still lacks is a trace recorded at the time. Of the 3 questions on this site, 0 are answered. The most likely answer to “What caused the rib and skull fractures in Dubinina, Zolotaryov and Thibeaux-Brignolles?”, not yet confirmed: a dense snow slab struck them while they lay on packed skis and gear, which acted as a rigid base. ### Key questionsset by the editors [**What caused the rib and skull fractures in Dubinina, Zolotaryov and Thibeaux-Brignolles?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/questions/QST0D79DJMR2EHJ/what-caused-the-rib-and-skull-fractures-in-dubinina)Most likely: a dense snow slab struck them while they lay on packed skis and gear, which acted as a rigid base [**What made nine experienced ski-tourers cut their way out of the tent and leave it, underdressed, in the dark?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/questions/QST0D79DJCY4S3V/what-made-nine-experienced-ski-tourers-cut-their-way-out-of)Most likely: a small slab avalanche, released from the wind-loaded slope above the cut the group made to level the tent,… [All 3 questions ](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=dyatlov-pass) ## What happened The group's own diaries, photographs and the route book, recovered from the tent and preserved in the case file, fix the approach. They reached the Lozva valley by truck and sledge, cached food and spare gear in the forest on 31 January, and on 1 February climbed late onto the treeless slope of Kholat Syakhl, about 300 m below the ridge, where the last photographs show them digging the tent platform into the snow in wind and poor light⁠[[1]]. The tent was a long canvas ridge tent for ten, pitched with its long axis across the slope, its uphill side set into a cut in the snow about a metre deep⁠[[4]]. What happened next is reconstructed from the scene. The tent's downhill wall was cut from inside in several places. Footprints, preserved as raised columns by later wind erosion, led down the slope in a rough line; most were of socks or bare feet. About 1.5 km down, at the forest edge, lay a cedar whose branches had been broken off up to five metres, a small fire, and the bodies of Krivonishenko and Doroshenko. Dyatlov, Slobodin and Kolmogorova lay at intervals on the slope above, heads toward the tent. Dubinina, Zolotaryov, Kolevatov and Thibeaux-Brignolles were found on 4 and 5 May in the ravine, in a hollow floored with cut fir and birch branches⁠[[1]]. Vozrozhdenny put the time of death at six to eight hours after the last meal, which the diaries and stomach contents place in the evening of 1 February⁠[[1]]. The weather station records and the searchers' accounts give a temperature near −25 °C with strong westerly wind⁠[[4]]. **Map of the site** [Open the full map](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/map) [Site][Region] [+][−] 1 **The cedar at the forest edge** Tree Within 100 m 2 **The ravine (the "den") below the cedar** Stream ravine Within 100 m 3 **Tent site, eastern slope of Kholat Syakhl** Mountain slope Within 100 m MappedBase map © OpenStreetMap contributors ### Timeline **Timeline** Squeezed where little happened. Each mark is a published claim, by how it stands:AcceptedMost likelyStill possibleDisputedRuled out ## The accounts Nobody saw the group die, so the accounts are of the search and the scene. The students, soldiers and Mansi hunters who found the tent and the first bodies gave statements to the investigators within days, and these are in the case file: the tent's condition, the standing ski poles and the ice-axe outside, the footprints, the cedar and the fire⁠[[1]]. Mansi witnesses described the weather and the region; several were questioned at length about whether their people could have attacked the group, and the investigators found no sign of a struggle or of any footprints but the group's own⁠[[1]]. Members of another touring group camped some 30 km south reported seeing glowing spheres in the sky on 17 February, and similar reports from early February appear in the file; they were recorded weeks after the deaths and refer to a different night⁠[[1]]. Yudin, the survivor, identified the group's belongings for the investigators and spent the rest of his life rejecting the avalanche explanation⁠[[1]]⁠[[6]]. ## What was recorded The criminal case file, opened on 6 February 1959 and closed on 28 May, runs to two volumes: the search reports, witness statements, the group's diaries and the route book, the autopsies, the forensic examination of the tent (which established that the cuts were made from inside), a radiological examination of clothing, the investigator's conclusion, and the radiograms between the search camp and Ivdel⁠[[1]]. The file was held in the Sverdlovsk Oblast archive and became available to researchers in the 1990s; page scans and translations are now published by the Dyatlov Pass research site and the file itself was transferred to the Yeltsin Center in 2019⁠[[1]]⁠[[7]]. The autopsies are the hardest evidence. Dyatlov, Kolmogorova, Slobodin, Krivonishenko, Doroshenko and Kolevatov died of hypothermia; Slobodin had a hairline skull fracture that was not fatal. Dubinina had symmetrical fractures of ribs on both sides and bleeding into the heart; Zolotaryov had five broken ribs on the right; Thibeaux-Brignolles had a depressed fracture of the temporal bone and a long fissure of the skull base. The four bodies from the ravine had lost soft tissue of the face, which the pathologist attributed to decomposition and water; Dubinina's tongue and eyes were missing⁠[[1]]. A radiological expert found beta contamination on several items of clothing from the ravine bodies, above the levels expected from fallout; the finding has never been fully explained and has fed the military theories⁠[[1]]. The 2019–2020 prosecutorial review added an on-site experiment in March 2019, a reconstruction of the weather, and expert opinions; its summary was given at a press conference and has not been published as a report⁠[[2]]⁠[[3]]. The 2021 model added physics: wind-loading of the slope above the cut for the hours between pitching and the event, a slab of about 5 m length releasing on a slope the authors put at about 28 degrees, and impact simulations calibrated against cadaver tests from the automotive literature, which produce rib and skull fractures of the kind found when a dense slab strikes a body lying on a rigid surface such as the packed skis the group slept on⁠[[4]]. The 2022 follow-up measured the slope by drone at more than 30 degrees and filmed two fresh slab avalanches on it in January 2022⁠[[5]]. ## The explanations The slab avalanche is now the reference explanation. Its account: the group cut the slope to level the tent; wind transported snow onto the slope above for several hours; a small slab released, struck the uphill side of the tent and the people lying under it, injuring three; the others cut their way out, took the injured downhill to shelter in the forest, built a fire and a den, and died of cold when they could not return⁠[[4]]⁠[[2]]. Its difficulties are the ones raised since 1959 and listed by Gaume and Puzrin themselves: the searchers recorded no avalanche debris, the slope was surveyed at under 30 degrees, the delay between the cut and the release, and injuries not typical of avalanche victims. The paper answers each: a small slab leaves little trace after three weeks of wind, the slope is locally steeper, delayed release follows from wind-loading, and the injuries follow from a slab striking bodies on a rigid base⁠[[4]]⁠[[5]]. What the model does not explain by itself is why the group went so far from the tent; the authors and the prosecutors answer that they sought the shelter of the trees and lost the tent in the dark⁠[[2]]. The katabatic wind reading, proposed by a Swedish-Russian expedition in 2019 by analogy with the 1978 Anaris deaths in Sweden, holds that a sudden violent downslope wind made the tent untenable and forced the group to the forest, where cold did the rest⁠[[6]]. It explains the retreat and the undressing but not the three sets of crushing injuries. The infrasound reading of Donnie Eichar's 2013 book proposes that wind over the ridge generated a Kármán vortex street whose infrasound caused panic and flight⁠[[8]]; it has no physical test and the same gap on the injuries. The human-agency readings (Mansi hunters, escaped prisoners, a military team cleaning up a weapons test, or an operation involving Zolotaryov and Krivonishenko) rest on the radiation finding, the facial injuries and the strangeness of the scene. Against them: the investigators found only the group's footprints, no sign of struggle, nothing taken, and the facial damage was judged post-mortem⁠[[1]]. The military-test readings (parachute mines, a rocket) rest on the 1959 sphere sightings and on Ivanov's later statement that he was told not to pursue them; no test on that date and place has been documented⁠[[6]]. The 2019 prosecutorial review excluded crime at the outset, which is a limit of that review, not evidence⁠[[3]]. ### Published claims **Published claims and their status** | Year | Who | Claimed | Status | Reason | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1959 | Lev Ivanov, Sverdlovsk prosecutor's office⁠[1] | The group died because of a compelling natural force they could not overcome; no crime was committed. | Accepted | The 2019-2020 review also excluded crime and named a natural cause, an avalanche, though the 1959 phrase names no mechanism⁠[2]. | | 1959 | Boris Vozrozhdenny⁠[1] | Six died of hypothermia and three of chest or skull fractures caused by a great force, comparable to a car crash, without matching external wounds. | Accepted | The autopsy findings are the agreed starting point of every later explanation, including the 2021 impact model⁠[4]. | | 1959 | The 1959 radiological examination⁠[1] | Several items of clothing from the ravine bodies carried beta contamination above the levels expected from fallout. | Accepted | The measurement stands in the case file; what caused it has never been settled⁠[1]. | | 1990 | Lev Ivanov⁠[9] | The injuries show a directed force, and glowing objects seen over the Urals played an obvious part in the deaths. | Disputed | The sphere sightings in the case file were recorded weeks after the deaths and refer to a different night⁠[1]. | | 2013 | Donnie Eichar⁠[8] | Wind over the ridge formed a Kármán vortex street whose infrasound caused panic, and the group fled the tent. | Disputed | It has had no physical test and does not account for the three crushing injuries⁠[4]. | | 2020 | Andrei Kuryakov, Prosecutor General's Office⁠[2] | An avalanche struck the tent; the group retreated to shelter, could not find the tent again in poor visibility, and froze. | Most likely | It is the official finding, but it was given at a press conference without published expert reports⁠[3]. | | 2021 | Johan Gaume and Alexander Puzrin⁠[4] | A small slab, released after hours of wind-loading above the tent cut, struck people lying on packed skis and caused the fractures found. | Most likely | The questions rate the slab reading supported as the leading account, but no avalanche trace was recorded in 1959 and the impact step rests on simulation⁠[5]. | | 2021 | Jim McElwaine⁠[10] | It is surprising that so small a slab could cause such injuries; the snow would have to be very stiff and moving fast. | Still possible | The authors' 2022 reply and field films show hard slabs form on the slope, but no independent forensic test of the impact step has been published⁠[5]. | | 2022 | Alexander Puzrin and Johan Gaume⁠[5] | The slope above the tent site is steeper than 30 degrees, and slab avalanches form on it, as two filmed in January 2022 show. | Accepted | The drone survey and the films are published with the paper⁠[5]. | ## What would settle it Full publication of the 2019–2020 review's expert reports, with the on-site measurements, would let the avalanche reconstruction be checked rather than taken on summary. A snowpack and wind record for the slope over a winter, with the kind of instrumentation now routine in avalanche research, would show whether slabs of the required size form above the tent site under the 1959 conditions; the 2022 films show they form, not how often⁠[[5]]. A forensic re-reading of the three injury cases against the slab-impact model, by pathologists independent of the authors, would test the model's strongest claim. The radiation finding could be re-examined from the archived clothing if it survives. None of this would tell us why the group walked 1.5 km; that part of the night is likely to stay inferred. ## Questions 0 of 3 questions are answered. **Key questions** [All 3](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=dyatlov-pass) **0** [What caused the rib and skull fractures in Dubinina, Zolotaryov and Thibeaux-Brignolles?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/questions/QST0D79DJMR2EHJ/what-caused-the-rib-and-skull-fractures-in-dubinina) 0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: a dense snow slab struck them while they lay on packed skis and gear, which acted as a rigid base **0** [What made nine experienced ski-tourers cut their way out of the tent and leave it, underdressed, in the dark?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/questions/QST0D79DJCY4S3V/what-made-nine-experienced-ski-tourers-cut-their-way-out-of) 0 of 1 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: a small slab avalanche, released from the wind-loaded slope above the cut the group made to level the tent,… ## Evidence 22 findings [What made nine experienced ski-tourers cut their way out of the tent and leave it, underdressed, in the dark?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/questions/QST0D79DJCY4S3V/what-made-nine-experienced-ski-tourers-cut-their-way-out-of)14 findings [A small slab avalanche, released from the wind-loaded slope above the cut the group made to level the tent,…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/answers/ANS0D79DK4C79EX/a-small-slab-avalanche-released-from-the-wind-loaded-slope)Most likely +[The model reproduces the delay, the small size, the lack of debris after three weeks of wind, and the injuries.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DKC663DJ/the-model-reproduces-the-delay-the-small-size-the-lack-of)Supported +[Drone survey found the slope above the tent site steeper than 30 degrees; two fresh slab avalanches were filmed there in January 2022.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DKM01HGQ/drone-survey-found-the-slope-above-the-tent-site-steeper)Supported +[The 2019–2020 prosecutorial review, with an on-site experiment, reached the same conclusion.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DKVT0BSE/the-20192020-prosecutorial-review-with-an-on-site-experiment)Supported −[The 1959 searchers recorded no avalanche debris, and the tent's ski poles and entrance were standing.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DM3M0C1G/the-1959-searchers-recorded-no-avalanche-debris-and-the)Established −[The 1959 survey put the slope at under 30 degrees.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DMBE2T0P/the-1959-survey-put-the-slope-at-under-30-degrees)Supported −[Three people with crushing injuries, one a skull fracture, walked or were carried 1.5 km.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DMK875FA/three-people-with-crushing-injuries-one-a-skull-fracture)Suggestive [A sudden violent katabatic wind made the tent untenable and drove the group to the forest for shelter; cold…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/answers/ANS0D79DMV20E5D/a-sudden-violent-katabatic-wind-made-the-tent-untenable-and)Disputed +[The 1978 Anaris case in Sweden shows a party of experienced skiers killed by sudden wind in similar terrain.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DN2W57MS/the-1978-anaris-case-in-sweden-shows-a-party-of-experienced)Suggestive −[Wind does not produce rib and skull fractures of the kind found.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DNAP5XZ6/wind-does-not-produce-rib-and-skull-fractures-of-the-kind)Established [Wind over the ridge produced infrasound that induced panic, and the group fled.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/answers/ANS0D79DNJG492D/wind-over-the-ridge-produced-infrasound-that-induced-panic)Disputed −[No measurement or model of infrasound at the site has been published, and the injuries are unexplained by panic alone.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DNTA1AAK/no-measurement-or-model-of-infrasound-at-the-site-has-been)Supported [People (Mansi hunters, escaped prisoners, a military or security team) forced the group from the tent and…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/answers/ANS0D79DP245Q70/people-mansi-hunters-escaped-prisoners-a-military-or)Disputed +[Beta contamination on some clothing from the ravine bodies has not been explained.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DPSJ4ADW/beta-contamination-on-some-clothing-from-the-ravine-bodies)Suggestive −[Investigators found only the group's footprints, no struggle, and nothing taken; the Mansi were questioned and cleared.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DP9Y4WBH/investigators-found-only-the-groups-footprints-no-struggle)Established −[The facial soft-tissue loss on the ravine bodies was judged post-mortem.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DPHR51B7/the-facial-soft-tissue-loss-on-the-ravine-bodies-was-judged)Supported [A nearby weapons test (rocket, parachute mines) injured or terrified the group and was then covered up.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/answers/ANS0D79DQ1C0Q1W/a-nearby-weapons-test-rocket-parachute-mines-injured-or)Disputed +[Glowing spheres were reported in the region in February 1959, and Ivanov later said he was told not to pursue them.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DQ964TNN/glowing-spheres-were-reported-in-the-region-in-february-1959)Suggestive −[No test on that date and place has been documented; the bodies show no burns or blast injuries.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DQH05E9X/no-test-on-that-date-and-place-has-been-documented-the)Supported [What caused the rib and skull fractures in Dubinina, Zolotaryov and Thibeaux-Brignolles?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/questions/QST0D79DJMR2EHJ/what-caused-the-rib-and-skull-fractures-in-dubinina)5 findings [A dense snow slab struck them while they lay on packed skis and gear, which acted as a rigid base.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/answers/ANS0D79DR0M2NT7/a-dense-snow-slab-struck-them-while-they-lay-on-packed-skis)Most likely +[Simulations using automotive cadaver data reproduce rib and skull fractures without external wounds for a slab of the inferred size.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DR8E7GCP/simulations-using-automotive-cadaver-data-reproduce-rib-and)Supported +[The injuries lack the external wounds expected from rockfall or a tool.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DRG850RM/the-injuries-lack-the-external-wounds-expected-from-rockfall)Supported [They fell into the ravine, or snow collapsed onto them in the den, after reaching the forest.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/answers/ANS0D79DRR25MZ1/they-fell-into-the-ravine-or-snow-collapsed-onto-them-in-the)Disputed +[The four were found in the ravine under about four metres of snow, 75 m from the cedar.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DRZW4M9H/the-four-were-found-in-the-ravine-under-about-four-metres-of)Established −[The ravine is shallow and snow-filled; the 1959 investigators did not regard a fall as sufficient for the injuries.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DS7P0JHV/the-ravine-is-shallow-and-snow-filled-the-1959-investigators)Suggestive [They were struck by people or by a blast.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/answers/ANS0D79DSFG3SC9/they-were-struck-by-people-or-by-a-blast)Disputed −[No external wounds matching blows were found; the pattern is of broad compression.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DSQA21P6/no-external-wounds-matching-blows-were-found-the-pattern-is)Supported [Why was beta contamination found on some of the clothing?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/questions/QST0D79DJWJ24G5/why-was-beta-contamination-found-on-some-of-the-clothing)3 findings [Two members (Krivonishenko and Kolevatov) had worked at or near nuclear facilities and their clothing carried…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/answers/ANS0D79DT6Y11ZE/two-members-krivonishenko-and-kolevatov-had-worked-at-or)Most likely +[Krivonishenko had worked at the Mayak complex; clothing was exchanged among the group.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DTER4C73/krivonishenko-had-worked-at-the-mayak-complex-clothing-was)Suggestive [Atmospheric fallout from 1950s testing, concentrated by weeks in meltwater.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/answers/ANS0D79DTPJ3ZMX/atmospheric-fallout-from-1950s-testing-concentrated-by-weeks)Still possible −[The 1959 expert noted that water flow could have reduced rather than raised the contamination, implying higher original levels.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DTYC3VCD/the-1959-expert-noted-that-water-flow-could-have-reduced)Suggestive [A radioactive source connected to the event itself.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/answers/ANS0D79DV6607H8/a-radioactive-source-connected-to-the-event-itself)Still possible −[Only some clothing items were tested and found contaminated; no systematic survey of bodies or equipment was done.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/evidence/EVD0D79DVE03YQR/only-some-clothing-items-were-tested-and-found-contaminated)Suggestive ## Artifacts The films, photos, papers and objects this mystery rests on, each with its own key and its distance from the original. **Artifacts** [See all 10](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/artifacts) Scan1 step from object [The criminal case file (two volumes)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/artifacts/ART0D79DWN2078S/the-criminal-case-file-two-volumes) Dyatlov Pass research site · unknown Photo1 step from object [The group's tent](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/artifacts/ART0D79DX4P140H/the-groups-tent) Merikanto · CC BY-SA 4.0 Scan1 step from object [The group's diaries and the route book](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/artifacts/ART0D79DXMA4P4N/the-groups-diaries-and-the-route-book) Dyatlov Pass research site · unknown Photo2 steps from object [The group's cameras and the photographs on their films](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/artifacts/ART0D79DZB050MX/the-groups-cameras-and-the-photographs-on-their-films) Dyatlov Pass research site (from the negatives) · unknown Photo2 steps from object [Photographs taken by the searchers and investigators, February–May 1959](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/artifacts/ART0D79DZTM7N7F/photographs-taken-by-the-searchers-and-investigators) Dyatlov Pass research site · unknown [See all 10 artifacts](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/dyatlov-pass/artifacts) ## See also [ **Somerton Man (Tamam Shud)** A man found dead on an Adelaide beach in 1948, named from DNA by researchers in 2022. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/somerton-man) [ **1908 Tunguska event** An explosion over the Siberian taiga in 1908 that flattened 2,150 km² of forest. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/tunguska-event) [ **Roswell, 1947** Debris found near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947 and announced as a flying disc. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/roswell) [ **Hijacking of Northwest 305 (D. B. Cooper)** A 1971 hijacker who jumped from a Boeing 727 with $200,000 and was never identified. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/db-cooper) ## References 1. 1.[Prosecutor's Office of Sverdlovsk Oblast (Ivanov, L. 1959. Criminal case on the death of the tourists in the area of Mount Otorten (case files, volumes 1 and 2, 1959). Dyatlov Pass research site (dyatlovpass.com), page scans with Russian transcription and English translation.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D79D942388C/criminal-case-on-the-death-of-the-tourists-in-the-area-of)cited 46 times here**SRC** 0D79D942388C 1. 2.[TASS 2020. Prosecutors say avalanche killed Dyatlov group in Urals in 1959. TASS.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D79D9VG2PSN/prosecutors-say-avalanche-killed-dyatlov-group-in-urals-in)cited 5 times here**SRC** 0D79D9VG2PSN 1. 3.[RFE/RL 2020. Russian Officials Reportedly Close Investigation Into Mysterious 1959 Hiking Disaster. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D79DA3A3RGT/russian-officials-reportedly-close-investigation-into)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0D79DA3A3RGT 1. 4.[Gaume, J., Puzrin, A. 2021. Mechanisms of slab avalanche release and impact in the Dyatlov Pass incident in 1959. Communications Earth & Environment.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D79D9BW3H96/mechanisms-of-slab-avalanche-release-and-impact-in-the)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-020-00081-8)cited 11 times here**SRC** 0D79D9BW3H96 1. 5.[Puzrin, A., Gaume, J. 2022. Post-publication careers: follow-up expeditions reveal avalanches at Dyatlov Pass. Communications Earth & Environment.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D79D9KP7M29/post-publication-careers-follow-up-expeditions-reveal)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00393-x)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0D79D9KP7M29 1. 6.[Wikipedia contributors 2026. Dyatlov Pass incident. Wikipedia.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D79DATR4CMD/dyatlov-pass-incident)cited 9 times here**SRC** 0D79DATR4CMD 1. 7.[TASS 2019. Dyatlov Pass incident archive to be handed over to Yeltsin Center Museum. TASS.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D79DAB43SGQ/dyatlov-pass-incident-archive-to-be-handed-over-to-yeltsin)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0D79DAB43SGQ 1. 8.[Eichar, D. 2013. Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident. Chronicle Books.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D79DAJY0FJB/dead-mountain-the-untold-true-story-of-the-dyatlov-pass)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0D79DAJY0FJB 1. 9.[Ivanov, L. 1990. Тайна огненных шаров (The secret of the fireballs). Ленинский путь (Leninsky Put), Kustanai, 22-24 November 1990.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D79DBJ66AJ1/the-secret-of-the-fireballs)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0D79DBJ66AJ1 1. 10.[Andrews, R. 2021. Has science solved one of history's greatest adventure mysteries?. National Geographic, 28 January 2021.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D79DBT03QCQ/has-science-solved-one-of-historys-greatest-adventure)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0D79DBT03QCQ Last edited 27 Oct 2026