Dyatlov Pass incident

[Ms Diddles]

Hi cd, I read, along with my three brave brethren, the book "1079", which is a very detailed analysis of the case. Unfortunately it was so bloody detailed and so strangely written, that I can remember nothing of any element of the case which would help you.

I thought that I was over "1079", and then you come along and re-open all the old wounds again.

Hang in there, buddy!

We got through it together and you're not going to give in to it now.

Drugs and talking therapies are available.

Stay strong, Barn!

[barnflatwyngarde]

Hang in there, buddy!

We got through it together and you're not going to give in to it now.

Drugs and talking therapies are available.

Stay strong, Barn!

Cheers fellow traveller, the only drugs that help me now are a nice can of chilled Heineken, a large G & T, and the occasional burst of Tom Waits.

Luckily I have all three to hand. I hope you're well.

[Ms Diddles]

Cheers fellow traveller, the only drugs that help me now are a nice can of chilled Heineken, a large G & T, and the occasional burst of Tom Waits.

Luckily I have all three to hand. I hope you're well.

Thanks Barn, I'm happy to say I've made a pretty comprehensive recovery after the horrors of 1079.

I mean, the occasional flashback or nightmare intrudes, but I'm learning to live with it.

Keep up the booze and Waits medication!

[c.d.]

Hello Abby,

The problem is that a mile is actually a fairly long distance. The average hiking speed is about 2 1/2 to 3 miles an hour. And this is assuming an unencumbered hiker in good health on a flat surface. Here, the hikers had been hiking all day with a heavy pack, were in now below freezing temperatures at night, in their socks and hiking through deep snow. I would think under these circumstances that a pace of two miles an hour would be fairly generous and actually unreasonable. Even so, are we to believe that they somehow moved at a pace of two miles an hour for 30 minutes. Even in a panic that is hard to accept.

c.d.

[Abby Normal]

Hello Abby,

The problem is that a mile is actually a fairly long distance. The average hiking speed is about 2 1/2 to 3 miles an hour. And this is assuming an unencumbered hiker in good health on a flat surface. Here, the hikers had been hiking all day with a heavy pack, were in now below freezing temperatures at night, in their socks and hiking through deep snow. I would think under these circumstances that a pace of two miles an hour would be fairly generous and actually unreasonable. Even so, are we to believe that they somehow moved at a pace of two miles an hour for 30 minutes. Even in a panic that is hard to accept.

c.d.

hi cd
we dont know how long it took them to get there, so trying to ascertain how fast they were going is impossible.

[Ms Diddles]

Hello Abby,

The problem is that a mile is actually a fairly long distance. The average hiking speed is about 2 1/2 to 3 miles an hour. And this is assuming an unencumbered hiker in good health on a flat surface. Here, the hikers had been hiking all day with a heavy pack, were in now below freezing temperatures at night, in their socks and hiking through deep snow. I would think under these circumstances that a pace of two miles an hour would be fairly generous and actually unreasonable. Even so, are we to believe that they somehow moved at a pace of two miles an hour for 30 minutes. Even in a panic that is hard to accept.

c.d.

Hi c.d.

I'm working from memory here but yeah, I seem to recall that the bodies found at the cedar tree were around a mile from the tent.

The journey was all down hill and I remember the footprints were deduced to show a steady, orderly walking pace with no signs of anyone running or panicking.

I've postulated before that normal avalanche protocol would involve moving rapidly in a horizontal direction out of it's path, rather than vertically down the slope right in front of it.

Am happy to be proved wrong on that.

Despite that, I still lean towards avalanche as the most likely culprit, simply playing the odds, but agree that it's all pretty unfathomable.

[c.d.]

Hello Ms. Diddles,

Thanks for your response. The point that I was trying to make is that a mile is a very long distance from the tent. If there had been an avalanche or some type of weather event it is reasonable to assume that they tried to put distance between themselves and the tent and became disoriented and unsure where the tent was now located. But if that were the case, I would expect that they would have ended up several hundred yards from the tent not a mile. They were experienced hikers and knew the dangers of hypothermia. But as I pointed out, given a walking speed of two miles an hour (which is probably generous) it would take 30 minutes of continuous walking to walk a mile. The wind chill was way below zero and they were only clad in long underwear and no boots. They must have been aware that getting back to the tent was their only hope and yet they ended up a mile away. Just doesn't add up.

[Ms Diddles]

Hello Ms. Diddles,

Thanks for your response. The point that I was trying to make is that a mile is a very long distance from the tent. If there had been an avalanche or some type of weather event it is reasonable to assume that they tried to put distance between themselves and the tent and became disoriented and unsure where the tent was now located. But if that were the case, I would expect that they would have ended up several hundred yards from the tent not a mile. They were experienced hikers and knew the dangers of hypothermia. But as I pointed out, given a walking speed of two miles an hour (which is probably generous) it would take 30 minutes of continuous walking to walk a mile. The wind chill was way below zero and they were only clad in long underwear and no boots. They must have been aware that getting back to the tent was their only hope and yet they ended up a mile away. Just doesn't add up.

Oh! I take your point c.d.

It's one of the many facets of this case which just don't appear to make sense.

I'd love to be able to provide a cohesive narrative which explains all the facts but I'm with you, in that it just doesn't add up for me either.

I guess that's why we're so fascinated by it.

I'll maybe watch Expedition Unknown again as it's a while since I saw it.

[c.d.]

Yeah, Josh Gates made the point that the tent was their lifeline. He and some other team members stood outside for a few minutes at night just to see what it would be like. They were all warmly dressed but after a couple minutes said geez we have to get into the tent.

c.d.

[Ms Diddles]

Yeah, Josh Gates made the point that the tent was their lifeline. He and some other team members stood outside for a few minutes at night just to see what it would be like. They were all warmly dressed but after a couple minutes said geez we have to get into the tent.

c.d.

I find it hard to conceive of circumstances under which one would not only leave the tent in those conditions, but actually damage it in such a way as to make it probably irreparable.

The hikers would have been aware that the tent was their only realistic chance of survival.

The only thing I can surmise is that whatever happened presented a greater and more immediate threat than the risk of hypothermia.

An avalanche would fit that bill.

[c.d.]

I always thought it strange that they didn't unzip the tent or have some means of exit preplanned in case of an avalanche. My feeling is that there was something else going on as well as an avalanche or weather event.

c.d.

[Abby Normal]

I always thought it strange that they didn't unzip the tent or have some means of exit preplanned in case of an avalanche. My feeling is that there was something else going on as well as an avalanche or weather event.

c.d.

it might have been frozen stuck and or somehow unaccesable

[Abby Normal]

howmany were in one tent? ive wondered if they were also running out of oxygen/ getting carbon monoxide poisoning from so many people breathing in a small enclosed space and getting dizzy before the weather and snow event.

[Ms Diddles]

howmany were in one tent? ive wondered if they were also running out of oxygen/ getting carbon monoxide poisoning from so many people breathing in a small enclosed space and getting dizzy before the weather and snow event.

There were nine of them in the tent, Abby.

IIRC the tent was quite large and was actually two tents stitched together (unless I'm misremembering that!).

I think in terms of them breathing in exhaled air it'd be carbon dioxide rather than carbon monoxide they were inhaling, although there was talk of the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning from the stove (but most reports stated that the stove was still in it's box and hadn't been lit).

[Fiver]

Everything that happened can be explained by panic. People woken in the middle of the night by a real, or even imagined, avalanche aren't always thinking clearly.