Theories Discussion > General Discussion

Leave the den to die?

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cz:
I know the den is controversial here but I will now assume there was one and that it provided some shelter.

One aspect that keeps me thinking is: why were they not in there? I guess they were not in need of fresh air so what reason may they have had to leave the shelter as a group. A second escape story? One of them died from hypothermia just a few feet from a snow shelter? Remarkable...

Any opinions?

Loose}{Cannon:
My thinking is...

There is a slope on both sides that make the ravine a ravine.  If said snow was deep enough on on side or at the bottom to dig said den, then it was deep enough to collapse on them OR slide onto them.  Hense the injuries.

cz:
A very good point you have here. The situation in the ravine when they came there was certainly different from the situation when they were found.

As their bodies lay at the bottom of the ravine, I tend to believe it was not filled with snow. I can imagine snow piling up on them but how should they get beneath it. Even a small avalanche would likely not bury them below an existing snow cover. Hard to believe it melted in between...

When the den floor remained intact it seems unlikely that the entire flank of the ravine went off along with them inside.

Perhaps they were still constructing when snow started shifting. Actually it makes some sense to think that all were still in comparably good health condition so that nobody had to rest in there before they all got hit by something.

This is all quite speculative of course...

Loose}{Cannon:
If the slide came from the north and the den was on the south...... it would have just filled in the den.   declare1

cz:
So, maybe this is just it. Buried by snow while potentially constructing a den. From what I read of zolotarev's exhumation, it remains a plausible hypothesis.

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