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« Last post by GlennM on March 07, 2026, 08:34:23 AM »
I don't know anything, but I am guessing each hiker had a pair of ski poles plus a spare pair for the team. That is 20 poles. Let's say they needed all 20 to properly pitch their tent. Then, they left the tent, arguably in a hurry They went down a snowy, icy, rocky slope for around a mile of what(?) a 25 degree slope and losing 400 or more vertical feet of elevation( ?) How many flights of apartment steps are we talking about? Exact corrections appreciated.
Now, to get down the slippery slope, they could link arms side by side all nine walking abreast, or line up and do follow the leader each grabbing shoulders and shirttails of another. We can naturally except the rugged individualist(s) who hugged themself all the way down. Off they went, or so say the frozen steps. Somebody lost their flashlight on the way down too, curse the luck!
Eventually down in the woods, someone prouduced a knife, matches too!. From that came firewood , a branch mat and a clothes burning fire. At some point, with hands and faces warmed in the glow of the flames, a plan for immediate survival was hatched. Was this before or after dead friends were stripped? I think before. Id like to believe there was group decision making. What next? There is room for original thinking, but there is also room for recalling the basics and past practice. Sheltering in a depression seems original, digging a snow cave is old hat for Zolo. But did the planning just dry up, then and there? Did they not expect that getting back home was going to take more effort?
There is no way I can imagine Igor, Rustem and Zina in the wooded area and committing to reversing their course back to the tent...without their walking stick! Think about it. Igor was clutching branches, proof he died after reaching the treeline (and not on his way down from the tent, as some suppose)
Who is going to walk uphill in knee deep snow,ice and rock without the benefit of a stout knife cut, or even a hand broken walking stick? Somebody who reads this is going to opine, "they couldn't hold on" ( there were bitten knuckles after all, evudence it was really, really cold). I say, they had pockets for their hands. They could make rags for gloves. They could make cloth strip straps for cedar, pine or birch walking sticks tied tight by hands and teeth. Yet, not a single victim was associated with a walking stick! It boggles my mind!. Put yourself in IRZ's situation. You look uphill seeing an inclined slope of bare white ground. Maybe you wipe snow off your eyelashes from time to time. The watches give you a sense of distance, the slope, a sense of direction, even if the tent itself is less than a black spot somewhere above your head.. You start back. It is an insult to their intelligence to think someone said, " Hey, this would be easier with a stick " , then fall to the ground and perish.
Maybe they were waiting for a plane. Maybe Igor died with a handful of branches to make a smoking signal fire. I think not. Just burn a tree! Rustem and Zina must have not supported the plan. They moved off, without a walking stick between them.
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