What made nine experienced ski-tourers cut their way out of the tent and leave it, underdressed, in the dark?
Most likely: a small slab avalanche, released from the wind-loaded slope above the cut the group made to level the tent,…Ahead on the evidence, not yet confirmed. It needs two reviews to be accepted.
Where it stands
Six answers have been proposed. A small slab avalanche, released from the wind-loaded slope above the cut the group made to level the tent,… leads, with evidence 3 for, 3 against: supported by its tests. Five are still possible. Of the one narrower question under it, none is answered yet.
Why it matters
Everything strange about the case follows from this decision. The tent held the boots, clothing and stove they needed to live; leaving it at −25 °C without them was fatal, and they knew it[1]. Each explanation is, at bottom, a reason to leave.
Answers 6
History
- Prosecutor's Office of Sverdlovsk Oblast (Ivanov puts forward: people (Mansi hunters, escaped prisoners, a military or security team) forced the group from the tent and…
- Prosecutor's Office of Sverdlovsk Oblast (Ivanov: the 1959 searchers recorded no avalanche debris, and the tent's ski poles and entrance were standing.Against: A small slab avalanche, released from the wind-loaded slope above the cut the group made to level the tent,…
- Prosecutor's Office of Sverdlovsk Oblast (Ivanov: wind does not produce rib and skull fractures of the kind found.Against: A sudden violent katabatic wind made the tent untenable and drove the group to the forest for shelter; cold…
- Prosecutor's Office of Sverdlovsk Oblast (Ivanov: investigators found only the group's footprints, no struggle, and nothing taken; the Mansi were questioned…Against: People (Mansi hunters, escaped prisoners, a military or security team) forced the group from the tent and…
- Prosecutor's Office of Sverdlovsk Oblast (Ivanov: beta contamination on some clothing from the ravine bodies has not been explained.For: People (Mansi hunters, escaped prisoners, a military or security team) forced the group from the tent and…
- Prosecutor's Office of Sverdlovsk Oblast (Ivanov: no test on that date and place has been documented; the bodies show no burns or blast injuries.Against: A nearby weapons test (rocket, parachute mines) injured or terrified the group and was then covered up.
- Gaume & Puzrin: no measurement or model of infrasound at the site has been published, and the injuries are unexplained by…Against: Wind over the ridge produced infrasound that induced panic, and the group fled.
- Puzrin & Gaume: drone survey found the slope above the tent site steeper than 30 degrees; two fresh slab avalanches were…For: A small slab avalanche, released from the wind-loaded slope above the cut the group made to level the tent,…
- Wikipedia contributors puts forward: a sudden violent katabatic wind made the tent untenable and drove the group to the forest for shelter; cold…
- Wikipedia contributors puts forward: a nearby weapons test (rocket, parachute mines) injured or terrified the group and was then covered up.
- Wikipedia contributors: the 1978 Anaris case in Sweden shows a party of experienced skiers killed by sudden wind in similar terrain.For: A sudden violent katabatic wind made the tent untenable and drove the group to the forest for shelter; cold…
- Wikipedia contributors: glowing spheres were reported in the region in February 1959, and Ivanov later said he was told not to pursue…For: A nearby weapons test (rocket, parachute mines) injured or terrified the group and was then covered up.
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