Dyatlov Pass Finally Explained? What the 2020 Investigation and a 2021 Study Found

On the night of February 1, 1959, nine experienced hikers in the northern Ural Mountains cut their way out of their own tent and walked into a storm, many without shoes. None survived. For more than 60 years, theories ranged from an attack to secret military tests to UFOs. In 2020, a Russian investigation concluded an avalanche was to blame, and in 2021 a study in Communications Earth & Environment showed how a small snow slab could explain the evidence. Here's what the searchers found, what's been explained, what's still disputed, and three explanations ranked by the evidence. Chapters: 0:00 The night of February 1, 1959 0:42 The group 1:15 The trek 2:05 The search 2:38 What they found 3:34 The injuries 4:04 The theories 5:02 A new answer 6:07 The science 6:57 The explanations 7:54 In memory Every claim is labeled Documented, Witness claim, Theory, or Debunked. The ranking is our own assessment — tell us yours in the comments. In memory of the nine hikers. No photographs of the hikers or the search are shown. Sources: - J. Gaume, A. M. Puzrin, "Mechanisms of slab avalanche release and impact in the Dyatlov Pass incident in 1959," Communications Earth & Environment 2 (2021): https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-020-00081-8 - A. M. Puzrin, J. Gaume, "Post-publication careers: follow-up expeditions reveal avalanches at Dyatlov Pass," Communications Earth & Environment (2022): https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00393-x - "Using science to explore a 60-year-old Russian mystery," EPFL/ETH Zurich news release via EurekAlert (2021): https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/923224 - "Dyatlov Pass incident" (Wikipedia, citing the 1959 inquest, the 2015–2019 ICRF review and the 2020 prosecutor's announcement): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident Images: - "Зимний уральский лес" (Northern Urals in winter) by Dendaris, CC BY 4.0 (cropped/zoomed): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Зимний_уральский_лес.jpg — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 - "Вид с Отортена" (view from Otorten) by ents, CC BY 3.0 (cropped/zoomed): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Вид_с_Отортена_-_panoramio.jpg — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 - "Гора Отортен" (Mount Otorten) by Oleg Chegodaev, CC BY-SA 4.0 (unmodified): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Гора_Отортен._Североуральский_минимализм.jpg - Dyatlov Pass incident maps by Merikanto: "accurate fancy map 1" (CC BY 2.5, data NASA/USGS/JAXA, cropped/zoomed): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dyatlov_pass_incident_accurate_fancy_map_1.svg · "accurate mountain and tent map 1" and "slope map 1" (CC BY-SA 4.0, unmodified): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dyatlov_pass_incident_accurate_mountain_and_tent_map_1.svg · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dyatlov_pass_incident_slope_map_1.svg - "Avalanche Roualle @ Les Confins" by Rémih, CC BY-SA 4.0 (unmodified; illustration, France): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avalanche_Roualle_@_Les_Confins.jpg - "Wechtenbruch" by Haneburger, Public domain (illustration, Austria): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wechtenbruch.jpg License text: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5 Script, research and graphics by The Strange Atlas. #dyatlovpass #unsolvedmysteries #history