As I read the daily synopsis leading up to the Feb. 2nd anniversary,,I am thinking of things. Although the group ostensibly did the hike to achieve grade 3 certification, it appears that there was a not so subtle undercurrent of defiance within the group., Igor was said to be a leader people wished to go with, but was his leadership effective? They do not roll out of bed when they agree to, members are punished and stand watch, they are not eating enough and those who smoke are not smoking. They have to break trail. Clothing gets burned. The beat up tent needs patching and that ends up being a power struggle. There is some boyfriend/girlfriend breakup tension simmering. The hiking plan gets spontaneously changed at the labaz, and all this happens no more than 72 hours after leaving civilization.
In short, instead of a disciplined, focused goal oriented expedition, what we see are people vying for power in an inhospitable remote environment.
I could envision a shouting match culminating with slashing the tent, just because and one more people storming out into the weather in big pout. Perhaps cool heads( no pun intended) do not prevail. If taken to an extreme, the entire group find themselves on a one way trip down the slope trying to rescue a fractured team. It does not end well