The Dyatlov Pass Incident

The mysterious death of nine Russian hikers.

In January of 1959, nine Soviet college students embarked on a journey to reach the peak of Otorten, a mountain in the Northern Urals of Russia. They left as prepared as anyone could have been but none of the hikers were ever seen alive again in what we now know as the Dyatlov Pass Incident.

In 1959, Igor Dyatlov was a 23 year old radio engineering student at the Ural Polytechnical Institute. He assembled a group of 9 others for a skiing expedition across the Northern Urals in the Soviet Union. This group consisted of 8 men and 2 women, all roughly the same age, and students or alumni of UPI. Every one of them were experienced Grade II-hikers with ski tour experience, and would be receiving Grade III certification upon their return. At the time, this was the highest certification available in the Soviet Union and required candidates to traverse 300 kilometers (190 miles).

The goal of this 14 day expedition was to reach Otorten mountain, a route that, in February conditions, was labeled a Category III, the most difficult.

On January 27th, they began their trek toward Otorten from Vizhai. This consisted of a train, a bus, and skiing through mountain side communities. But, only one day into the journey, one of the members, Yuri Yudin, knew he’d be…