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General Discussion / Re: I can't even think of setting up a labaz here

« Last post by GlennM on April 19, 2026, 06:31:50 AM »

The diary entry confuses me all the more. I am reading it as if the entry was written the following morning and not the same day . Then,we have an indication that on the night of the 30th, the group had a good rest. The rest of it is a prediction and anticipation of how things will go on the 31st.

 Now, knowing that the forest thins out, they still do not cache their overburden. They take it all. They go uphill in the Auspya and cross over, but retreat in face of the weather and the lack of an adequate marker for their cache ( above the tree line) so they backtrack and spend time burying their excess in the tree line.

I want to think they somehow intended to cache their supplies where the tent was actually found on 1079, but they did not because the conditions were so bad that they couldnt depend on finding it after they rounded Otorten. Therefore, they backtracked all the way back to their Jan 31 camp and stashed their goods. Then the headed out to the final camp. So in that context whatever was to be written on the morning if Feb 1 would chronicle the events of Jan 31.

It is the language in the diary that bothers me. Although there is no requirement that the group diary have military nor legal precision, it appears conversational, terse and colloquial. The result for me is that Igor's leadership and decision making ability is clouded by the entries. The high regard he was held in seems diluted by the ambivalent language and actual movements of the group. It also implies that the weather was harsh. How harsh? Russian meteorological reporr should provide evidence.

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General Discussion / Re: I can't even think of setting up a labaz here

« Last post by Senior Maldonado on April 19, 2026, 04:59:11 AM »

To me it means one of the two things considering the context of the whole entry:
1. I am so tired I don't want to think about it, or
2. The place is not suitable, either because it is hard to dig (the could have hung on trees), or hard to find on their way back.

'The place is not suitable' is the right answer. At the Pass the hikers faced snow crust, strong wind and no trees. The sentence "We go south in the Auspiya valley" is not a correct translation from russian. The right translations is "We descend south direction, to Auspiya valley". And in Auspiya valley they found deep and soft snow, some trees, some wind protection.

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General Discussion / Re: I can't even think of setting up a labaz here

« Last post by Teddy on April 19, 2026, 04:11:13 AM »

To me it means one of the two things considering the context of the whole entry:
1. I am so tired I don't want to think about it, or
2. The place is not suitable, either because it is hard to dig (the could have hung on trees), or hard to find on their way back.

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General Discussion / Re: I can't even think of setting up a labaz here

« Last post by Ziljoe on April 19, 2026, 03:26:37 AM »

Glennm, sorry for going off topic .I think you’re right ,the whole diary entry is basically a description of worsening weather and exhaustion. 
Deep snow, strong wind, exposed terrain, poor visibility… everything points to conditions that would still be dangerous on Feb 1. 
People sometimes over‑analyse the phrasing, but the overall picture is clear: the weather was rough, and if it stayed that way, it’s entirely consistent with the tent being damaged by wind and snow loading. It almost sounds like Igor was planning a camp on the ridge and it was inevitable.

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General Discussion / Re: I can't even think of setting up a labaz here

« Last post by Teddy on April 19, 2026, 01:43:25 AM »

If Popov’s note follows the standard oversight template, then its presence in the case file may have a straightforward administrative explanation. 

This doesn't make any sense.
And since it has nothing to do with what Dyatlov wrote in his diary your post is moved here.

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General Discussion / Re: Solved! 6th of February case file date!

« Last post by Ziljoe on April 19, 2026, 01:22:53 AM »

It would actually be useful to hear from Russian speakers on this — especially those familiar with how regional duty officers handled movement‑checks and paperwork. 
They would know whether Popov’s Feb 6 note fits the pattern of a normal oversight interview rather than anything investigative.

This was already answered by Russian authorities, exactly "those familiar with how regional duty officers handled movement‑checks and paperwork".
It is stated at the end of the response to the inquiry - the only answer is that this document belonged to a different case file that was merged with the Dyatlov case.
"the Prosecutor of Sverdlovsk Andrey Kuryakov in a press conference on 4 Feb 2019 in Yekaterinburg suggested that it could have come from another unrelated case, because there is no reference to Dyatlov case in the testimony."
You can not trump that. This is the answer from the Russian authorities.

Teddy, I need to clarify something because your reply attributes an intention to me that isn’t there.

Kuryakov’s statement was that the document could have come from another case. 
That is a possibility, not a conclusion, and it doesn’t address the procedural question I raised.

My point concerns how regional duty officers handled routine movement‑checks in the 1950s, and whether Popov’s Feb 6 protocol matches the format of a standard oversight interview. 
That is a matter of Soviet administrative practice, not modern commentary.

Russian members have disagreed with each other many times on these issues, so attaching “Russian” to a statement doesn’t automatically make it definitive. 
I’m not trying to “trump” anything — I’m offering an alternative explanation based on documented workflow.

If Popov’s note follows the standard oversight template, then its presence in the case file may have a straightforward administrative explanation. 
That’s the question I’m exploring.

I also want to say openly that some of your recent replies to my posts have come across as dismissive. 
Phrases like “over excitement” or “you cannot trump that” imply motives I don’t have and misrepresent my intentions in a public discussion.

We’re all here to examine the evidence and propose interpretations — right or wrong — and I’m contributing in that spirit. 
My interest in the oversight angle is simply to reduce unnecessary speculation and understand the case file structure more clearly.

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General Discussion / Re: I can't even think of setting up a labaz here

« Last post by Teddy on April 19, 2026, 12:25:31 AM »

It would actually be useful to hear from Russian speakers on this — especially those familiar with how regional duty officers handled movement‑checks and paperwork. 
They would know whether Popov’s Feb 6 note fits the pattern of a normal oversight interview rather than anything investigative.

This was already answered by Russian authorities, exactly "those familiar with how regional duty officers handled movement‑checks and paperwork".
It is stated at the end of the response to the inquiry - the only answer is that this document belonged to a different case file that was merged with the Dyatlov case.
"the Prosecutor of Sverdlovsk Andrey Kuryakov in a press conference on 4 Feb 2019 in Yekaterinburg suggested that it could have come from another unrelated case, because there is no reference to Dyatlov case in the testimony."
You can not trump that. This is the answer from the Russian authorities.

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General Discussion / Re: I can't even think of setting up a labaz here

« Last post by Ziljoe on April 19, 2026, 12:13:26 AM »

Glenn, I agree with you about the translation issue — the “can’t imagine” phrasing is one of those cultural things that reads backwards in English. 
And the weather context you’re describing fits the group’s behaviour on the 31st and the 1st.

What I keep thinking about is how these diary entries, and even simple administrative notes, were interpreted later by different people in different roles. 
In the Soviet system, the same protocol format was used for everything from routine oversight checks to full investigations, so the meaning often depended on context rather than the form itself.

It would actually be useful to hear from Russian speakers on this — especially those familiar with how regional duty officers handled movement‑checks and paperwork. 
They would know whether Popov’s Feb 6 note fits the pattern of a normal oversight interview rather than anything investigative.

That kind of cultural insight would help clear up a lot of the confusion around how these documents ended up in the case file in the first place.

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General Discussion / Re: I can't even think of setting up a labaz here

« Last post by Teddy on April 18, 2026, 10:47:39 PM »

I asked Askinadzi to explain in other words what Dyatlov meant.

Yesterday he accepted to participate in a TV show that shoots in 3 days in Moscow so he might be in route. Not sure when he will answer.

I asked two other Russian members of the forum to pitch in as well.

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General Discussion / I can't even think of setting up a labaz here

« Last post by GlennM on April 18, 2026, 09:07:09 PM »

January 31, group diary

Started relatively early (around 10 am). Got back on the Mansi trail. (Up to now we are following a Mansi trail on which not so long passed a hunter with deer.)
Yesterday it seems we stumbled upon his resting stop. Deer didn't go any further. The hunter took the beaten trail by himself, we are following in his steps.
Had a surprisingly good overnight, the air is warm and dry, though it’s -18°C to -24°C. Walking is especially hard today. We can't see the trail, have to grope our way through at times. Can’t do more than 1.5-2 km (1 mile) per hour.
Trying out new ways to clear the path. The first in line drops his backpack, skis forward for five minutes, comes back for a 10-15 minute break, then catches up with the group. That’s one way to keep laying ski tracks non-stop. Hard on the second hiker though, who has to follow the new trail with full gear on his back. We gradually leave the Auspiya valley, it’s upwards all the way but goes rather smoothly. Thin birch grove replaces firs. The end of the forest is getting closer. Wind is western, warm, piercing, with speed like the jet from airplanes at takeoff. Firn, open spaces. I can't even think of setting up a labaz here. It's nearly 4. Have to start looking for a place to pitch the tent. We go south in the Auspiya valley. Seems this place has the deepest snow. Wind not strong, snow 1.2-2 m (3-4 ft) deep. We’re exhausted, but start setting up for the night. Firewood is scarce, mostly damp firs. We build the campfire on the logs, too tired to dig a fire pit. Dinner’s in the tent. Nice and warm. Can’t imagine such comfort on the ridge, with howling wind outside, hundreds of kilometers away from human settlements.
Dyatlov (last record in the diary)

The fact of the matter is that they did dig in a labaz at their Jan 31 camp. So what does this comment, " I can't imagine..." really mean? Was Igor really saying " I CAN imagine setting up a labaz, but I don't like it"  By the same token was the entry "Can’t imagine such comfort on the ridge, " saying I CAN imagine the Discomfort on the ridge?  So what?

What I am thinking is that these " can't imagine" expressions have led some to believe that the tent was not compromised on Feb 1 by the weather. They instead choose to believe nearly anything else caused them to leave the tent except a weather imduced disaster. The diary makes it clear that they were experiencing high winds and blowing snow. It stands to reason that if those conditions did not abate on Feb 1, not too much progress to Ortoten would be made. That is true. Consequently,  when a suitable spot was found which afforded a place to level the tent and had a bit of a ridge to make a rudimentary snow wall. They did so.

In that situation, imagine a katabatic wind coming off of 1079. Driving snow  swirls and piles up uphill of the tent. This could create the conditions for a localized snow slide which loosened lines, broke a pole and crushed the tent and those within.

Confusion for me at least, is when an entry in the diary actually means the opposite of what is written. This is where translation and cultural differences foul things up,