"Everything is staged - a cedar fell on the tent": An Austrian researcher discusses the mystery of the Dyatlov Pass.

On Sunday, February 2, it marks exactly 66 years since the enigmatic demise of a group of tourists from Sverdlovsk at the Dyatlov Pass. This tragedy, which claimed the lives of nine young individuals, has inspired numerous books and many documentary films. The story has also served as material for several feature films.

To briefly recap: on January 23, a group of ten tourists from the sports club of the Ural Polytechnic Institute departed by train from Sverdlovsk to Serov. The group was led by Igor Dyatlov, a fifth-year student at the radio faculty. Due to health issues, fourth-year engineering and economics student Yuri Yudin decided to return home on January 28. The remaining members continued their expedition. According to their plan, on February 12, the tourists were supposed to reach their final destination, the village of Vizhay, and send a telegram to their sports club. However, the telegram never arrived, neither that day nor in the days that followed.

1

The bodies of the deceased tourists were discovered far from the tent at the pass. Photo: Dyatlov Group Memorial Fund

A large-scale search for the missing tourists commenced. Initially, a tent was found, cut open by someone, on the slope of Mount Kholatchakhl. Subsequently, for several months, searchers uncovered mutilated bodies of the tourists at varying distances from the tent. All signs indicated that on the night of February 1-2, 1959, experienced tourists, seemingly fleeing from something, had cut open the tent and rushed out into the freezing cold, dressed only in their sleepwear. Over the decades, many theories have been proposed.

On the anniversary of the tragedy, a conference is held in Yekaterinburg where researchers repeatedly strive to comprehend what ultimately led to the tourists' demise. This year, for the first time, the conference was personally attended by researcher Theodora Hadzhijska from Austria. She is the creator of the website dyatlovpass.com, which is regarded as the largest and most detailed foreign site dedicated to the mystery of the Dyatlov Pass. We asked her to share her version of what happened.

2

On the anniversary of the tragedy at the Dyatlov Pass, a conference was held in Yekaterinburg in memory of the deceased tourists.

Photo: Daniil SVECHKOV. Go to the KP Photo Bank

“THE PASS TOLD US: ‘GO BACK’”

Theodora Hadzhijska was born in Bulgaria, spent her childhood in Cuba, and later lived in the United States before moving to Austria. She became interested in the Dyatlov Pass in 2012 when she was involved in a truck accident in Indonesia. At that time, a doctor mentioned that her injuries were very similar to those sustained by the Ural tourists at the Dyatlov Pass. Unfamiliar with the pass, she read about it and became so intrigued that she has visited it five times since.

Theodora speaks Russian fluently. She arrived at the conference in Yekaterinburg directly from the pass, having returned from Serov on Friday. The wind's chill still lingers on her cheeks.

3

Theodora Hadzhijska - creator of the largest foreign website about the Dyatlov Pass.

Photo: Daniil SVECHKOV. Go to the KP Photo Bank

- This was my fifth time at the Dyatlov Pass. I visited twice in winter and three times in summer. The first time was with the Discovery Channel. And now Dmitry Kireev (a researcher and entrepreneur from Serov - Ed.) invited me. We traveled on snowmobiles. It was very frightening because you shouldn’t go down the mountain so fast on a snowmobile (laughs); you need to go slowly, on foot. We arrived very late, and all my cameras… everything froze. It was so cold. We were all freezing. It felt as if the pass was telling us, ‘Alright, enough. Go back.’

To honor the memory of the Dyatlov group, Theodora brought a memorial plaque in English with photographs of all nine participants of the expedition. Her group also helped transport equipment to the pass that another group would need, which plans to spend the night in a tent similar to the one used by Igor Dyatlov's group.

- There is currently another group attempting to spend the night there with a replica of the Dyatlov group tent and a stove. We had to assist them with supplies – we carried a very heavy load. The weather has warmed up now, so I hope it won’t be too difficult for them at the pass, - added Theodora. - They want to conduct many experiments. I was also invited to stay and spend the night there. But it was important for me to come to Yekaterinburg for this conference and meet with researchers whom I had previously only communicated with online. We can work together to uncover more data about what happened.

THE TENT COULD HAVE BEEN IN A DIFFERENT LOCATION

The website managed by Theodora Hadzhijska lists numerous theories regarding the events at the Dyatlov Pass, ranging from realistic to fantastical. She herself adheres to a more grounded interpretation of what occurred, which nonetheless explains why all the bodies were found in the woods – at a distance from the tent that stood on the slope.

4

The tent of the Dyatlov group, discovered by searchers. Photo: Dyatlov Group Memorial Fund

- My theory is that the Dyatlov group spent the night in the woods, not where the tent was found. You cannot use a stove on a slope. They would have had a cold night, - notes Theodora Hadzhijska. - A cedar could have fallen on the tent in the woods, injuring several tourists. The others might have gone to seek help. It’s possible that the bodies were found in February – they were spotted from a helicopter by geologists working in the area. Six bodies were sent to the morgue. Later, the authorities in Ivdel feared they would be blamed for the tourists’ deaths during explosive geological work, so to avoid punishment and to dissociate the tourists' names from the incident, they returned the bodies to the site and placed the tent where it was found – on the slope. So it was a staged act, but not out of malice; it was out of fear for themselves.

5

The bodies of the deceased tourists were discovered far from the tent at the pass. Photo: Dyatlov Group Memorial Fund

In the area where the tent might have stood, researchers found a dead fallen cedar. According to Theodora’s hypothesis, it fell in January 1959.

- I found this dead cedar and proved that it fell in January 1959. Its last ring is from 1958 (the age and growth conditions of a tree can be determined by counting the rings on its cross-section - Ed.), - said Theodora. - I also found a can of condensed milk 30 cm from the cedar. This is a tourist can, as the searchers who came later had large cans of condensed milk from the State Reserve.

This summer, Theodora Hadzhijska plans to return to the Dyatlov Pass with a professional metal detector to try to find items that belonged to the Dyatlov group.