Theories Discussion > General Discussion

The Last Leg

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gunmat:
Yes, the final stretch is simply too short. So something happened. There has been speculation as to why they ascended this slope and pitched the tent there, under the prevailing weather conditions. It has also been suggested that they navigated incorrectly due to poor visibility. Yuri Yudin believed that the group chose to pitch the tent on this slope to avoid losing altitude before the crucial push towards Otorten. It's simply odd that they didn't backtrack the same way they came and seek shelter where they last stayed if the weather became too challenging. It would have taken them a maximum of 15 to 20 minutes. I highly doubt they pitched the tent in such an exposed area, awaiting better weather. They would have sought shelter if the weather became unmanageable or chosen a different route further east of the pass. Regardless, the tent wasn't hit by an avalanche. Any snowflake that fell on the tent wouldn't have caused any damage and wouldn't have caused panic. I have no theory about what happened that day, but I find the tent's placement very strange.

WinterLeia:
I do not believe they were lost. They at least knew where the forest was, because they did not have any problem heading for it in the middle of the night after whatever disaster struck that made them abandon the tent. So even if they were unsure of their destination, that wouldn’t be a reason for picking such an odd camping site. Plus, were they really that far off the trail? There seems to be various answers to this. The last diary entries seem to indicate that they knew where they needed to go, but they were having trouble overcoming the various obstacles standing in their way, due to a mixture of worsening conditions and exhaustion.

GlennM:
I subscribe to the standard explanation, meaning the tent was last set on 1079. Why? Primarily, the location of the cache is convincing. That they traversed little ground implies they could not or would not go further. My sense is that they were making slow progress against blizzard conditions. Stubbornness prevented then from retreating a second time back to the site of the cache. Getting the highest grade certification must have made them ,determined in the face the inclement weather. They were camping with a servicable tent on a shoestring budget with a deadline to get back home. There was not a lot of time to spare. They had already lost a day. If instead, they went to the forest and worked toward Ortoten, they would have deeper snow and the woods themselves to work through. They kept to the high ground but left the tent, not for the cache, but with the wind at their backs, they made for the woods. Why? I think snow crushed the tent and they could not dig out at the time, so they retreated for the forest.

WinterLeia:
This is probably a stupid idea, but considering a tree falling on the group is a going theory, I kind of wondered if Dyatlov could have been worried that in a storm a tree might snap and fall on them, maybe in conjunction with falling snow? One of the diaries did mention that at one point it was snowing without snowing because I guess it was coming from the branches. Is there any conditions that might have led Dyatlov to believe camping on the slope would be safer than camping in the forest?

GlennM:
The tree theory has its merits, primarily for shelter and access to firewood and water. A blowdown or a random fall is certainly possible. The hikers are not going to tie off on a loose tree, surely. A nearby tree could fall and perhaps even cause injuries suggested in Teddy's theory. Of course there are things that argue against it such as the physical locations of the hikers and the tent. No blood or tree residue was noted on the tent.

What I find compelling is the labaz. It is above Dyatlov Pass. That pass should have been taken in order for the hikers to camp at the cedar. But apparantly they did not cross there. So I imagine that they crossed over in the high ground. Now, looking ahead to Ortoten, who would deliberately turn away from it and go downslope to the forest, only to fight their way back up to Ortoten? No, they had won the high ground, but were beaten back by the weather, losing a day. Surely they felt that they could get to their goal without losing ground. It was a good idea. Nature is indifferent to ideas.

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