It should be like this in its simplest form

[Osi]

Question: Why couldn't we find any footprints between Labaz and the tent?

Answer: When the group set off from the Labaz region, there was a calm but heavy snowfall. The footprints were covered with snow within minutes.

Question: What happened next?

Answer: As you know; in heavy and stormy snowfall, snow acts as insulation against the cold, the chill is reduced and you even enjoy it. This situation may have caused a complacency in setting up the tent on the slope.

Question: What happened next?
We can assume that after we got into the tent in the evening, had our dinner, undressed and went to sleep, the weather changed and turned into a storm. We can assume that the wind blowing from northwest to southeast, that is, downhill, caused snow to accumulate on the side of the tent facing the hill. It can be assumed that most of them did not notice this accumulation because they were asleep. After the accumulation reached a level that the tent could not support, the tent collapsed because one of the poles inside broke. I think the only reason the tent was cut was because they were stuck inside the tent and could not move. Numbness, darkness, no idea or knowledge of what happened. They may have interpreted this impact as an avalanche. In fact, this collapse can also be considered an avalanche.

What happened next? Although there were no footprints from the Labaz region to the tent, the fact that there were traces from the tent to the cedar tree is an indication that the storm was continuing when they left the tent. They trampled on fresh snow. Columns formed at heights where the wind was effective. In other hollow areas, the wind did not allow the traces to be covered. I think they received many unexplained simple trauma wounds on their bodies during this collapse.

What happened in the valley?
We know that there are roughnesses near the cedar tree that could cause a fall. The reason we chose the cedar tree is that it is an advantageous place among the weak trees to protect from the storm. Also, old trees can provide you with fuel. There are many dry branches in old cedars.

If things are not going well in the cedar region, the fire may not be strong enough and some members may start to show advanced hypothermia symptoms over time. After Yuris' condition worsens, the two leaders' plan comes into play here. Dyatlov will go to the tent, Semyon wants to build a cave for the rest. The trees and bushes on both sides of a ravine form a roof frame with the snow that falls or blows away. Just like the wood under the tiles on houses. If left untreated, the compacted snow can accumulate for months without collapsing. You can easily enter this roof from the ravine's watercourse. In February, there was probably no water flow at the bottom of the ravine.

Semyon's group could not warm up enough in the pit they dug a few meters from the ravine and noticed the entrance to the cave in the ravine. They dug a comfortable space large enough to fit 4 people, and then the bridge had to collapse.

[SURI]

I had long since ruled out an avalanche or a slab slide. The tent was not collapsed at the time the incident began. Yuri Krivonischenko, the last one in the tent, managed to put a tripod on his camera and take 1 picture of the shining threat. At that moment, he already knew that this was a threat that was very, very near.

[Ziljoe]

Question: Why couldn't we find any footprints between Labaz and the tent?

Answer: When the group set off from the Labaz region, there was a calm but heavy snowfall. The footprints were covered with snow within minutes.

Question: What happened next?

Answer: As you know; in heavy and stormy snowfall, snow acts as insulation against the cold, the chill is reduced and you even enjoy it. This situation may have caused a complacency in setting up the tent on the slope.

Question: What happened next?
We can assume that after we got into the tent in the evening, had our dinner, undressed and went to sleep, the weather changed and turned into a storm. We can assume that the wind blowing from northwest to southeast, that is, downhill, caused snow to accumulate on the side of the tent facing the hill. It can be assumed that most of them did not notice this accumulation because they were asleep. After the accumulation reached a level that the tent could not support, the tent collapsed because one of the poles inside broke. I think the only reason the tent was cut was because they were stuck inside the tent and could not move. Numbness, darkness, no idea or knowledge of what happened. They may have interpreted this impact as an avalanche. In fact, this collapse can also be considered an avalanche.

What happened next? Although there were no footprints from the Labaz region to the tent, the fact that there were traces from the tent to the cedar tree is an indication that the storm was continuing when they left the tent. They trampled on fresh snow. Columns formed at heights where the wind was effective. In other hollow areas, the wind did not allow the traces to be covered. I think they received many unexplained simple trauma wounds on their bodies during this collapse.

What happened in the valley?
We know that there are roughnesses near the cedar tree that could cause a fall. The reason we chose the cedar tree is that it is an advantageous place among the weak trees to protect from the storm. Also, old trees can provide you with fuel. There are many dry branches in old cedars.

If things are not going well in the cedar region, the fire may not be strong enough and some members may start to show advanced hypothermia symptoms over time. After Yuris' condition worsens, the two leaders' plan comes into play here. Dyatlov will go to the tent, Semyon wants to build a cave for the rest. The trees and bushes on both sides of a ravine form a roof frame with the snow that falls or blows away. Just like the wood under the tiles on houses. If left untreated, the compacted snow can accumulate for months without collapsing. You can easily enter this roof from the ravine's watercourse. In February, there was probably no water flow at the bottom of the ravine.

Semyon's group could not warm up enough in the pit they dug a few meters from the ravine and noticed the entrance to the cave in the ravine. They dug a comfortable space large enough to fit 4 people, and then the bridge had to collapse.

I think something like this is most plausible. We also have to remember that three weeks of weather , wind , snow drifting etc will have changed the snow depth in various places .

[Ziljoe]

I had long since ruled out an avalanche or a slab slide. The tent was not collapsed at the time the incident began. Yuri Krivonischenko, the last one in the tent, managed to put a tripod on his camera and take 1 picture of the shining threat. At that moment, he already knew that this was a threat that was very, very near.

I believe the camera was found attached to a tripod, however this would take a bit of time and it has been suggested that the last shot or photographs were perhaps just the people developing the film winding the last shots on to finish the film roll. I think the tripod is only used for low light ( shaky hands) and the potential for a group shot at Ortoten summit.


This leads me to another assumption, that is, it was a portable tripod, small and relatively light. Why the tripod was attached is an interesting  question. Was it used for the last photo digging the tent platform or was it going to used for a morning shot?.

[GlennM]

On Dyatlov Pass website, there is an interview article for Vladimir Androsov. In the article, he makes comments based on his exchanges with Forester Pashin as told to a 13 year old boy.  What interests me is that when it comes to the Labaz, Vlad has definite things to say. It seems his comments are based on experience and other reliable sources. Read the following:

MP: This so-called labaz is very strange, and it is possible that the Dyatlov group themselves did not make it. The Dyatlov group's diaries noted that they were going to build a labaz, to set it up. Build - it's not like digging a hole in the snow, is it?

Vladimir Androsov: The word "labaz" itself implies installing a supply of something on trees, but not in the snow. They couldn't have done that, and it is clear that the ski stuck in is especially the only one, and where is the second one? Did they find it? No? It is not possible that any of them left their ski and continued on one.

Protocol inspection of the labaz
Russian
Sheet 8
Protocolinspection the labaz
March 2, 1959 Search party base camp in the upper sources of Auspiya river. Attorney forensic Sverdlovsk region Ivanov prosecution in the presence of the head search party comrade Maslennikov (city of Sverdlovsk, Zavodskaya St, 32) and Slobtsov Boris Efimovich (Sverdlovsk, Lenin St 13-a, apt. 23) in accordance with Art. 78 Code of Criminal Procedure made this Protocol as follows:on this date in the upper sources of Auspiya river, below the pass of the river Lozva, the labaz (cache of food supplies) of the Dyatlov group was discovered.
Labaz is located at a group's camp site well hidden packed with fire wood, covered with planks and spruce debris. At the storage one pair of skis is propped in the snow and a torn gaiter is slipped onto it,
Sheet 9
- 2 -
upon excavation of the cache the following products were found:
Condensed milk 2.5 kg
Meat canned banks 4 kg
Sugar - 8 kg
Butter - 4 kg
Cooked sausage - 4 kg
Salt - 1.5 kg
Kissel-compote - 3 kg
Oatmeal and buckwheat 7.5 kg
Cocoa 200 g
Coffee - 200 g
Tea - 200 gr
Loin - 3 kg
Milk powder - 1 kg
Sugar - 3 kg
Crackers - 7 kg and Noodles - 5 kg
Also found:mandolin, a pair of shoes 41 size, and worn socks inside, pair of insulated boots, mounting set, 2 batteries mounted with the bulb for lighting
Sheet 10
- 3 -
According to Blinov the insulated boots belonged Dyatlov.Since the products are not of interest to the investigation, they transferred the head of the search party comrade Maslennikov as an emergency reserve. All containers of product, and mandolin, two pairs of shoes, socks and the mounting set are confiscated

The upshot of all this is that knowledgable hikers are going to raise and flag their cache so as to keep it from animals and be visible at  a distance.

Any cache buried in snow and marked perhaps with a ski indicates, a very large misunderstanding of the practical requirements of a Labaz.

My point is this. If the group ignored Pashin's admonition about taking the ridge route and further if the tourists fashioned an inferior temporary storage, it is arguable that their last camp on 1079 amounted to a gamble with Nature, without being  qualified or prepared to take the risk. The unknown compelling force was hubris.

[SURI]

I had long since ruled out an avalanche or a slab slide. The tent was not collapsed at the time the incident began. Yuri Krivonischenko, the last one in the tent, managed to put a tripod on his camera and take 1 picture of the shining threat. At that moment, he already knew that this was a threat that was very, very near.

I believe the camera was found attached to a tripod, however this would take a bit of time and it has been suggested that the last shot or photographs were perhaps just the people developing the film winding the last shots on to finish the film roll. I think the tripod is only used for low light ( shaky hands) and the potential for a group shot at Ortoten summit.


This leads me to another assumption, that is, it was a portable tripod, small and relatively light. Why the tripod was attached is an interesting  question. Was it used for the last photo digging the tent platform or was it going to used for a morning shot?.

The tripod and Krivonischenko's last photo are related. Krivonischenko intended to photograph this shining threat as evidence. As the last one in the tent (along with Doroshenko), he had time to prepare. But he only managed to take one last photo, and then only an emergency cut through the tent followed. The other tourists who were previously in the tent did not perceive this threat, because the threat was only apparent when the other tourists left the tent.