The Dyatlov Pass Incident sounds like something out of a movie. Nine skilled young hikers set out with leader Igor Dyatlov to reach the summit of Mount Otorten. They were experts in outdoor survival and serious about their sport, but not so serious that they wouldn’t stop and mug for a camera. They set out on trains, trucks, carts, and eventually skis to earn the highest hiking certification. Just as they were about to achieve their goal, disaster struck. Searchers found the bodies of all nine hikers over the next three months, some sporting severe injuries and missing clothes. The tent was slashed open from the inside for a quick escape. But there is no record of what could have panicked the group so much that they would run outside. They fled despite dangerous outdoor conditions, dying of hypothermia and injury. The night the hikers died was the night a mystery was born.
The Dyatlov Group Comes Together
On January 23, 1959, ten hikers left Sverdlosk on a train for a fun winter adventure. The group planned to hike to Mount Otorten to earn their Grade III hiking rating, the highest level of difficulty and expertise in outdoor certification. Igor Dyatlov the leader, was a radio engineering student, skilled equipment builder and member of the Ural Polytechnic Institute (UPI)’s Tourist Society. He 16 hikes on his record, leading nine (including the fatal hike). He planned a hike that would take 16 to 18 days, routed along through the cities of Serov and Ivdel, stopping at the Vizhai camp. The route then took them into the wilderness, along the Lozva River and to Mount Otorten. The Sverdlosk city route commission approved the plan. Dyatlov recruited nine of his friends for the expedition, students or recent graduates of Ural Polytechnic Institute (UPI).