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In the freezing winter of 1959, nine experienced hikers traveled deep into the Russian mountains. When these hikers missed their deadline on what was supposed to be a brief journey, a search and rescue attempt was sent into the mountains. What the investigators discovered would become one of the most baffling and intriguing mysteries of all time, known today as the Dyatlov Pass Incident.
Rescuers would eventually find the hikers, all frozen and deceased, spread out across the mountain slope and woods. For unknown reasons, at some point in the middle of the night the hikers had all run out of their tent into the freezing cold. Their equipment and supplies were all found intact and undamaged. Stranger still, the hikers had not even taken the time to properly dress before scattering away from the tent. The bodies of the hikers would eventually be found in separate locations on the mountain. To further confuse the investigators, several of the bodies showed traumatic internal damage, without any outward wounds or signs of distress.
What exactly happened to those veteran hikers that night? Were they chased out by a pack of veracious animals, or even violent humans? Were they the unfortunate victims of a secret soviet military experiment? Or perhaps the mountain claimed them with an unstoppable avalanche.
Listen to this episode as we discuss of one of our favorite mysteries as we go over all the theories, both plausible and outlandish, and also dispel some of the myths and legends that are attributed to the Dyatlov Pass Incident.
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I recently read Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar. It proposed that a harmonic effect of the wind on a part of the mountain top could have caused the hikers to panic by inducing a feeling of dread. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject in a future podcast.
Hey Stephen, thanks for the input! We have heard a few people suggesting Dead Mountain, I’m definitely planing on reading it next. I have looked into the infrasound theory that is suggested and I can see how that could be a reasonable explanation to what caused the hikers to escape their tent. We can do some more research into it, perhaps we can do a follow up episode or something to help get the word out on the topic!
Thanks guys! Great episode.
Thanks Jacy! Glad you could send us in the suggestion, one of our favorite mysteries yet!