Stanislav [TIPIKIN] – answers to questions from forum participants:
1. What department and year did you study at? Did you know Igor Dyatlov and other tourists from his group before their hike?
[T.]: In February 1959, I was a 5th-year student at the Physics and Technology Department of UPI. I didn't know Igor Dyatlov for long, but I knew him well enough: I had to get into heated arguments with him in the office of the chairman of the sports club, Lev Gordo, when distributing funds between the tourist section and the mountaineering section, of which I was the head at the time.
Lyusya Dubinina and Yura Krivonischenko became familiar to me at parties in the foyer in front of the sports club. I was not acquainted with the other members of Dyatlov's group.
2. On what principle was Akselrod's group formed, how did you end up in his search group? Did you know the other members of the group with whom you were searching before the search? What can you tell us about them? >
[T.]: I learned about the decision to organize a search expedition from Moisei Akselrod, one of my friends from the alpine section and from my student life. I also knew Sergei Sogrin well from the alpine section, as an excellent athlete and organizer.
The radio operators (2 people) ended up in our group, obviously by chance. They were good guys, but their trip to Otorten turned out to be, unfortunately, useless, because both radios were inoperative (they were unable to establish radio contact with either the helicopter or the plane, or with each other.
3. How did they get to Ivdel: was it a regular scheduled flight or a special flight (civilian or military plane from Sverdlovsk)?
[T.]: Our group (Axelrod's group) got to Ivdel on a specially designated plane with an intermediate landing in Artemovsk.
4. Do you remember your first impressions, meetings and rumors in Ivdel upon arrival (before flying out to search)? Who did you see, what did you talk about, where did you live? Do you remember the planes and helicopters at the airfield? If so, how many were there and what kind (military, civilian)? Do you remember the search? Did you fly from the search on different helicopters or on one?
[T.]: Upon arrival in Ivdel, the group transferred from the plane to the helicopter and flies to Otorten. I can’t say anything about the planes and helicopters at the airfield in Ivdel, somehow I didn’t pay attention to it. Here and in all other answers I won’t be able to clarify whether the planes and helicopters belong to military or civil aviation either, since I wasn’t interested in it at all.
5. How and from whom did your group receive the search assignment?
[T.]: Upon arrival in Ivdel, Monya Akselrod went to the search headquarters representative for instructions and upon his return told us the action plan, which included climbing Otorten.
6. Do you remember which helicopter (military or civil) you flew to the Otorten area on the first time? Was there anyone on board besides your group?
[T.]: On the first flight to Otorten, as far as I remember, there were no other passengers on board besides our group of 5 people.
7. Did radio operators Yaburov and Cheglintsev participate in the search in the Otorten area? According to some recollections, they were not with you. If so, why didn’t you take them and Cheglintsev along with you on the search?
[T.]: Radio operators Yaburov and Chigvintsev were with us the entire time the group was in the Otorten area, but they did not go to the mountain with us. They were instructed, while at the bivouac, to establish reliable radio contact with the planes and helicopters that would be operating in the Otorten area. Unfortunately, we were unable to establish contact. We, the three “runners,” were supposed to make a radial exit to Otorten with an ascent to the top of the mountain, then go around its foot and return to the bivouac. Which is what was done.
8. How did the search in the Otorten area go, how and where did you find the note from the MSU tourists, what happened to it later?
[T.]: February 27, 1959. After dawn, leaving the radio operators to work on the radios, the three of us set off on skis to Otorten. From the bivouac site (it was set up in the middle of the gorge slope), the mountain and the winding forested gorge towards the mountain with a frozen stream at the bottom were clearly visible.
The weather was excellent, it was easy to walk, the road was laid where there was less thicket. We walked for about an hour and a half. Finally, the trees began to retreat, we came out into the open and lost our bearings. In front of us was a saddle, to the left and right of which rose the snow-covered slopes of two similar peaks. The top of the mountain was not visible because of the bend in the slopes. Which of them was Otorten? We decided this: one of us would go to the left mountain, the second to the right, and the third would be on duty at the saddle as a coordinator and to provide emergency assistance in case of an emergency. The deadline for returning to the saddle is in an hour and a half. I volunteered to go to the left summit. Ski poles in hand and up! As I climbed, when outlier rocks began to appear from behind the bend in the slope, I realized that I was climbing Otorten.
Having reached the top, I began to go around the remnants scattered over a large area. There were no traces of people anywhere. But there must be a cairn where notes are placed. Based on my mountaineering experience, one not very high remnant seemed most suitable to me. I approached it, but immediately realized the futility of my intentions: the walls of the rock were covered with a crust of ice, and there was nothing to catch on with felt boots. And Sergey had mountaineering equipment down below. In short, having once again gone around the top of the mountain and having looked at the other (western) slope, I fell down. Both Monya and Sergey were already at the saddle, they greeted me with the news that I had been to Otorten.
I told them everything I had seen, and we decided to get to the cairn on Otorten after all. Again, sticks in hand and up!
Rope, hooks, hammer, belay – and Sergey Sogrin, confirming his reputation as an excellent climber, climbed the remnant. Soon he shouted to us that there was a note, but not Dyatlov’s, and read out the text. So, Dyatlov's group did not reach here, the final point of their route (I did not hold the MSU note in my hands and I do not know who keeps it).
From the saddle we descended to the western side of Otorten, examined the avalanche deposits under the 80-meter cliff that we were told about during the briefing at the institute, crossed a frozen lake and at that time an airplane appeared above us. We laid out a prearranged signal "P" on the snow that the search was continuing, and in response we received a pennant that traces of Dyatlov's group had been found and we should prepare for evacuation. We completed the circuit around Otorten, went out on our morning ski track and returned to our radio operators' bivouac before dark to begin preparations to meet the helicopter in the morning.
9. How were you taken back to Ivdel? What kind of helicopter was it (civilian or military)? Was there anyone on board besides you and Prosecutor Tempalov?
[T.]: March 28, 1959. The weather was fine in the morning, a slight frost, so we decided to fold up the tents and wait for the helicopter to arrive by the fire. Just in case, we prepared signal fires. Time passed, but the helicopter did not arrive. We saw how an airplane began to circle in the distance above Otorten. We waited. It was almost noon. An airplane appeared in the Otorten area again. We decided to attract attention to ourselves, lit signal fires, but no one reacted to this. The sun began to set and we thought that we would have to spend another night in tents. But then suddenly a helicopter emerged from behind the ridge and from the open door they started shouting something at us and vigorously waving their arms, demanding with their gestures that we immediately climb up the ridge. And we climbed up a rather steep slope and deep snow, gasping for breath and falling from the strain. We had to unload our radio operators by hanging additional weight on our chests in the form of heavy radios. The second pilot and an unknown person who introduced himself as a prosecutor helped us get into the helicopter. From him we learned all the details known at that time about the Dyatlov group and the initial results of the search. When we asked the pilots to drop us off on the way to the accident site (only 10 km away), everyone waved their arms at us: the order is to take us only to Ivdel!!! We learned the real reason for this a little later.
10. What happened between your return from Otorten to Ivdel and the flight to the scene of the incident?
[T.]: When we disembarked from the helicopter in Ivdel, we were taken to a hotel at the airfield, where we were to appear before the members of the Commission and, possibly (as we were told), before the Secretary of the Regional Party Committee Yeshtokin (for some reason the name stuck in my memory). I remember that we were walking in absolute darkness, and only against the background of the snow could we guess that many people were standing silently along the path, as if waiting for something. There was some kind of unpleasant feeling in my soul. We were greeted well in the hotel restaurant, fed, given juices to drink (after all, at Otorten we drank only melted snow), and then a conversation with the members of the Commission took place right there. They asked us questions, we answered. It was obvious that these people were vested with great authority. But who they were, I still don’t know. Then they sent us to bed.
In the morning at breakfast they told us that Axelrod's group was flying out to Sverdlovsk today. We were dumbfounded! Why? What nonsense? Our hands wouldn't be superfluous during the search! We sent Moisey to figure out what was going on. When he returned, he said that it was the decision of the authorities. Allegedly, yesterday a message was received in Sverdlovsk that Axelrod's group was not responding and might have also died. The city is already full of gloomy rumors, and then another news about a group death! In order to avoid possible negative consequences, they ordered that we be shown alive to our families and the institute. And only then can we think about what to do next.
We disagreed and persuaded Moisey to try to get through to the highest authorities with a request to cancel the decision. Moisey was gone for a long time. Finally, he comes, beaming – mouth from ear to ear: That's it! Let's fly to search!
This unpleasant incident for us was caused by the pilots' fault.
The fact is that the flight mission of the helicopter carrying us to Otorten was to land the group on the slope of this mountain. But the helicopter commander had doubts about the assigned landing site due to the state of the snow and he decided to look for a more convenient point (he had the right to do so) and found it on a flat bare ridge at a distance of 8 km from Otorten.
We didn’t care, but for some reason the pilots of the observation plane were not informed about the change in the landing site. Therefore, while flying around the mountain on the day of the evacuation, the pilots of the plane received and transmitted to the ground extremely alarming information: Akselrod’s group was not responding to radio communication, was not sending any ground signals, traces of the group were found under the cliff of Otorten, on the snow of the lake, after which the traces disappeared.
It is concluded that Axelrod’s group, in all likelihood, died. The very fact of the incomprehensible death of a large group of UPI students so shocked the public consciousness and created such an uneasy nervous atmosphere around this tragic event that any news of a new group death could bring a lot of trouble.
11. Arrival at the scene of the incident was March 1, 1959. What kind of helicopter was it (civilian or military), the same as before? Who else flew with you to the pass, was there any cargo?
[T.]: During the flight to the pass on March 1, 1959, we met prosecutor L.N. Ivanov. The time of the flight passed unnoticed in conversation. The topic of discussion, of course, was one.
I did not pay attention to what cargo was transported on this flight. And was there any cargo at all? The fact that they were carrying food, that's for sure. They were already in use in the evening.
12. Did you load the dead people's belongings and tent into the helicopter upon arrival? Did anyone fly away from the pass in this helicopter?
[T.]: As far as I remember, we didn't load anything into the helicopter. Upon arrival at the pass, we immediately headed to Dyatlov's tent, and from there down to the cedar. And the bodies of Krivonischenko and Doroshenko, already harnessed to the sleds, climbed up to the pass. Thus, we simply didn't have time, or need, to observe the helicopter.
13. First impressions of the pass: who did you talk to, what did you hear, what did you do? Did you talk to Maslennikov, investigator Ivanov, journalist Yarovoy? How did the search go in general? What did you find during your participation?
[T.]: In the very first hours of arriving at the pass, I joined Akselrod's group in the work of lifting the bodies of Doroshenko and Krivonischenko to the pass. These are my first impressions. I did not have any private "face-to-face" conversations with Maslennikov and Ivanov, and I had no idea who Yarovoy was and had nothing to talk about with him.
14. Who lifted the 4th body – Georgy Krivonischenko?
[T.]: The bodies of Krivonischenko and Doroshenko were lifted to the pass at the same time on sleds in two groups of 5-6 people. I ended up in the "Krivonischenko lifting group". I remember well that the weather was beautiful with a slight frost. The sun was shining. We were walking up at an angle into the wind. Both hands were busy, so I had to periodically turn my right cheek away. And still, when we climbed the pass, my cheek was covered with a thick crust of ice.
And for half a century now, the comparison has not left my head: if our cheeks froze in the sun in a slight frost, then what must Zina, Rustem and Igor have experienced on the same slope in 30-degree frost in a hurricane wind, and in complete darkness, half-naked and helpless. And they did not go only for their own salvation. And if this is not heroism, then what is? This is in response to your question about impressions. This is not forgotten even after 55 years.
15. Do you remember how they tried to find the storage shed? Were there any diagrams of Dyatlov with its location, who and when was looking? Who and how found?
[T.]: I only remember how in the morning there were gatherings of those who went in search of the storage shed. And they found it. I don't know the details.
16. Who loaded the bodies into the helicopter? What kind of helicopter (civilian or military)?
[T.]: I don't know.
17. Students and engineers from Sverdlovsk, masters of sports from Moscow, railroad engineers, cadets and employees of the Ivdellag convoy troops took part in the search. Do you remember any of them? Do you remember the radio operator? Where was the radio and how did the radio communications take place?
[T.]: At the first stage of the search, about which I have some idea, the number of participants was small and was limited, apparently, first of all, by the living space of one tent. After all, there was nothing else on the site (no buildings, no tents). And if you take into account that part of the useful area of the tent was occupied by a stove with a safety zone, a food warehouse and passages, then, in my opinion, about 25 people could live in it at the same time. That's about how it was. We lived in harmony. As for personal memories, I personally remember, in addition to my own (institute) ones, our leader Maslennikov, captain Chernyshov from Ivdellag and the Moscow master of sports in mountaineering Baskin (we met the latter 4 months later in the Caucasus at the All-Union School of Mountaineering Instructors).
From the radio operators I remember Yegor Nevolin (many thanks to him for the photo).
In general, such a routine was developed that the search leader gathered the active members around him to discuss the results of the day. Anyone who wanted to could take part. New finds, opinions, versions were discussed. A report was compiled and sent by radiogram to Sverdlovsk. And all this happened in a tent.
18. Who and how found the body of Rustem Slobodin? Did you see this moment? Did you draw up a report, was there an inspection on the spot? Were there any instructions from headquarters on how and what to do with the discovery?
[T.]: March 5, 1959. That day I stood in line next to Slava Karelin. In general, I always found it interesting to talk to him. He was very keen on local history of the Northern Urals and a participant in many expeditions, he knew a lot, saw a lot, and listening to his stories was a pleasure. And with the monotonous, tedious work with probes, this somehow shortened the time. This time there was a conversation too. Suddenly I heard: "Oh, it seems there is something!" I turned my head towards him. He poked the probe again: "There is definitely something!" Then I stepped towards him and we began to outline some anomaly under the crust at a depth of 30-50 cm with probes. Indeed, something unusual was felt there.
"Let's open it up and take a look. Hey, who has shovels?"
We knew that the soldiers had sapper shovels with them. The lieutenant apparently sensed that events were brewing and gave his men the order to run and carry the shovels, which were in the place where we left the skis and extra clothes. I couldn't wait. I knelt down, broke the crust with my mittens and began to dig out the snow with my hands.
At a depth of about 30 cm, my hand caught and pulled out a dark piece of outerwear from the snow. That's it! We found it! At that moment, shovels were brought in and the soldiers were ordered to start digging. There were those among us who already knew what to do. I, however, was so overexcited that I didn't remember what I did for the rest of the day. I only remember someone (of course, Slava Karelin) saying:
"This is Rustik Slobodin."
19. Were the Dyatlov group's belongings left on the pass during the search or was everything taken to Ivdel? Were there any traces that could definitely be attributed to the Dyatlov group? Or were all the traces only from the searchers?
[T.]: I don't know about the Dyatlov group's belongings. As for the tracks, my main job at the site of the Dyatlov group's death was searching for the bodies of the dead.
20. Do you remember finding a piece of a ski and a flashlight on March 7, 1959? If so, who, where and how found them? Why did you think they belonged to the dead?
[T.]: Information about tracks, any material finds was of interest to me at that time only as a possible clue to the location of the bodies, so I did not keep it in my memory, although I probably heard and knew something.
21. Do you remember the preparation for the commission meeting in Ivdel? What were the conversations in the search camp, what versions, rumors?
[T.]: I cannot imagine what kind of special preparation for the commission meeting could have been discussed. After all, we all lived in the same tent. Any word spoken out loud became public property. The conditions were unusually democratic. Anyone who wanted to could express their questions, opinions, versions, evidence. And if they were of interest, they would be discussed, sometimes heatedly. Of course, a written report had to be submitted, which meant that it was created by the management "on the knee". In any case, I am sure that there was nothing in the report that was not discussed out loud in the tent.
22. When and how did you fly away from the pass? What helicopter (military, civilian)? Who did you fly with? What did you do in Ivdel before leaving for Sverdlovsk?
[T.]: I flew from the pass to Ivdel on March 9, 1959, as part of a UPI search group. That same day, we flew from Ivdel to Sverdlovsk by plane.
23. Did you talk to the pilots, military searchers, locals? Do you remember anyone? What did they talk about?
[T.]: I had no communication with pilots, military searchers, media representatives or other interested parties.
24. Do you have your own version of what happened?
[T.]: I have my own version. It consists entirely of individual facts and opinions that have already been voiced by someone, but arranged in a slightly different order. I do not consider my version to be the truth, but so far I have not heard any convincing arguments against it from anyone.
25. Do you read materials on this case (books, TV, Internet)? What do you think about them? Have you talked to your classmates about this after the search? What did the students think at the time, were any assumptions discussed?
[T.]: I read the materials posted on the Internet and watched all the programs on the central television channels and REN-TV. As for my classmates of that time, upon returning from the search, they asked me about this tragedy, but somehow without much emotion. Maybe I was talking to the wrong people, or they did not understand something. The graduate students, next to whom I did my diploma work, showed more interest.
26. Did you keep a diary during the search (like many students of that time). Perhaps you have some photographs from the search and the UPI tourists?
[T.]: I didn't keep a diary. Everything I said (down to the details) is taken from memory. I stupidly didn't take a camera with me, because I thought that a gun was more necessary… (end of answers)
Topic: Stas Tipikin answers the questions (Read 1218 times)