Zolotaryov was searching for uranium....

[Axelrod]

Zolotaryov was searching for uranium....

A message appeared in the neighboring topic that is not related to that topic.

If the last camp site and the actual location of the tent were in different, then why? It seems the biggest secret would be to hide uranium prospecting. Anyone with half an interest would assume Russians were looking for nuclear material during the cold war. The USA U2 spy plane would film any area thought to be of military interest. The worst kept secrets are military ones. Covering up accidental or intentional deaths of the hikers does not hide the elephant in the room. If anything, it calls attention to the whole business of prospecting. There is no reason to assume the tent was pitched anywhere but on the slope of 1079 on the last night. The unknown compelling force was the weather and the subsequent failure of the tent itself. If an issue is made over Zolo and Lyuda's injuries perhaps it was related to blasting when everyone was at or near the cedar waiting out the weather.

But the idea seemed interesting to me, and I want to continue the thought. As we know, Zolotaryov worked or lived in the city of Lermontov in the Caucasus. He was a physical education teacher there, but in the city of Lermontov there was a uranium mine (later closed).

Then Zolotaryov moved from place to place, from city to city. He was in Altai and the Urals.
In the city of Novokuznetsk, before moving to the Urals, he met his students and told them that he would soon become famous throughout the world. Why?

Perhaps he was searching for uranium. Apparently, one person is enough to search for this ore, but it is difficult for one person to make an expedition, and everyone else will also have to be paid a salary. Or we have an ideal situation that he joined a tourist group to do his developments.

[GlennM]

Finding a source of uranium would certainly be a prize. What tools that could be carried in a pocket would be of use to him in his prospecting?

[Axelrod]

I think that for this it is enough to have a pocket  gamma dasimeter, which was produced at the "Impulse" plant.

The "Impulse" plant is located in the city of Pyatigorsk (Malygina St., 5), not far from the medical institute (Kalinin Ave., 11), where Zolotaryov worked as a physical education teacher. Both to the north near the railway station,

[GlennM]

Do you feel that this device was confiscated and supppressed? Does it relate to searchers bringing geiger counters to the search area? Does it link to radioactivity on the deceased persons clothes?

[Axelrod]

We know that Dyatlov's group recorded temperatures in their diaries.
But the thermometer is nowhere to be found in the lists and protocols.
Therefore, other devices may be missing.

When Zolotaryov is described in autopsy, the camera and watch on right handare not described, but they are visible in the photo
It is possible that the device was also confiscated.

[Osi]

Personally; It would spoil the fun if someone much older than me, who wasn't from the university club, was included in our trip. There is no note of reproach regarding this situation in the private diaries. What could be the explanation for this positive attitude?
Zolotorev may have been a seeker rather than a tourist, and this (this must remain a secret) may have been reported to DP members. If the group accepts this and shows solidarity, it will have positive results for both the country and the group members. Could it be that instead of simple search techniques like Yudin did, the rocks with positive measurements were tried to be destroyed with dynamite or simpler explosives? Could it be that a few group members, curious about Zolotorev's experiences, shared his fatal fate?

[GlennM]

Is there an advantage in travelling with a group versus going alone? As history tells us, it turned out badly for the group. What would be the optimal outcome?

[Osi]

Of course.. You will have an advantage against wild animal attacks. First aid is very close in case of injuries and accidents. Opportunity to sleep and rest comfortably with the shift system. Saving time due to fuel, tent setting and food cooperation If you do not have the ability to find direction, you will have a guide on the route.

[GlennM]

With those advantages,  the impediment would likely be that prospecting could only happen along the route and at camp without delaying the progress of the hike. Can an arguement be made that Zolo and maybe others trekked to the woods after the last camp was made on the slope of 1079 to do some prospecting in the vicinity of the cedar and ravine  and got hurt in the process?

[Osi]

Coercive power; It could be either a sheet of snow hitting the tent, or an unfortunate explosion as the 4 descended into the forest. He doesn't seem very interested in human violence. An object many times larger than the body (such as a snow sheet, a huge exploding rock, a blown tree) hits two people in the chest and hits the head of the others.

[GlennM]

I agree that any of those forces could drive the hikers from their tent. A quest for pitchblende did not figure into their troubles at all. It appears to me that unless there was specific understandings and accommodations made for Zolo or anyone to do prospecting, the whole matter of mineral hunting is a red herring.

Zolo was on the trek to get a certification and from that,  employment. His interest was more about getting it over and done with so he could move on in life. The others were out for a good time in the outdoors. Obviously, they each were high potential and high achievers.

Nature is indifferent to human desires. An unknown compelling force is the compelling force(s) of cold, wind, snow and inadequate equipment. Bad things happen to good people.