Skip to content
Casepin

Dyatlov Pass incident (1959)

COLDDyatlov Pass, Ural Mountains, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia0:45

Nine experienced Soviet ski hikers led by Igor Dyatlov died in the northern Ural Mountains on 1 or 2 February 1959 after cutting their way out of their tent and fleeing into a snowstorm inadequately dressed for the cold; Russian authorities reopened the case in 2019 and announced in 2020 that an avalanche was the most likely cause, though the deaths remain widely described as unexplained and some researchers dispute that conclusion.

Open the case file YouTube

Narrated from the published, cited case file. The sources are on the case page. How we make these videos.

Transcript

What the video says

In February 1959, nine experienced ski hikers led by Igor Dyatlov cut their way out of their tent from the inside and fled into a freezing Ural night. Searchers found the tent cut open from within, and footprints in socks and bare feet leading toward the trees. All nine were found dead over the next months — some near a fire, others in a ravine with injuries one expert likened to a car crash. In 2020, Russian officials ruled an avalanche the likely cause, though many researchers still disagree. The case remains unsolved and has gone cold. The full case file is on casepin dot org.

Transcript from the video’s narration track. For every source, open the case file.

Up next

Watch next

All videos

Watch next