The Dyatlov Pass Case
Aug 4, 2016

In 1959, a group of Russian hikers mysteriously died while traversing the snowy mountains of Siberia. Their deaths remain unexplained to this day. In this video I examine the available criminal case files, autopsy reports, and photos taken by the hikers themselves in an effort to unravel this mystery.

Update - Mar 16, 2021

Since the release of this video in 2016, the mystery has gained a lot more attention. Not least of all because Russian authorities reopened and reexamined the case. The conclusion of that investigation was that an avalanche was responsible. More recently, in early 2021, a team of Swiss engineers conducted an independent investigation and came to a similar conclusion. They both argue that extreme weather conditions and the installation of the tent destabilized the slope and triggered a small yet powerful avalanche.

Correction of 01:30 to 01:33

The word "altercate" makes no sense in this sentence. The word I was looking for was "alternate".

Correction of 05:24 to 05:30

In this part of the video I claim that the hikers were intoxicated when they died. This is wrong. The hikers were explicitly NOT intoxicated. The mistake was likely the result of a mistranslation from Russian to English.

Correction of 14:20 to 14:29

While it is true that various meat products were recovered from inside the tent, there is no mention of it being fried or otherwise cooked in the case files.

Clarification of 14:30 to 15:33

The theory presented near the end of the video relies on the stove being both assembled and disassembled during the night of the incident. However, because the stove was found disassembled, some of the investigators were left with the impression that the stove had not been used at all. But there is reason to doubt this assessment. On the night of the incident, the hikers wrote a leaflet in the style of a satirical newspaper. On the bottom of this leaflet, they wrote the following: "A team of radio technicians including comrades Doroshenko and Kolmogorova set a new world record for portable stove assembly..." So the use of the stove remains an open question. Regardless, I no longer believe it is what drove them out of the tent. The stove theory does not sound nearly as plausible as I once thought it did.

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