Dyatlov group's footprints on the slope, why icy?

[SURI]

It's such a puzzle. The unknown force was not always in one place. When the hikers descended the slope, the unknown force was no longer at the tent, yet they could not all return. At that moment, the unknown force was not even in the forest, otherwise the 2 Yuris would not have sought shelter there.

[ilahiyol]

It's such a puzzle. The unknown force was not always in one place. When the hikers descended the slope, the unknown force was no longer at the tent, yet they could not all return. At that moment, the unknown force was not even in the forest, otherwise the 2 Yuris would not have sought shelter there.

The unknown force was everywhere because of its speed. I can't say exactly how fast, but it was definitely at least 20-25 km/h. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been possible for it to catch Rustem, a runner, as he was running. Rustem caught up with him as he was running and struck him in the left temple. Rustem fell face down on the ground. And I'm sure he had been watching the young people since the beginning of the march. Why did he want to kill them? That's what really concerns me.

[SURI]

Yes, the unknown force was everywhere, but not all at once. It was at the tent for a while, on the slope for a while, by the cedar tree for a while, and for a long time in the ravine.

[ilahiyol]

Yes, it's impossible for him to be everywhere at once. He was where he could track them. So, he wasn't very far away. First, he killed Dytlov, then Rustem, then Zina. Then the four hiding in the snow... And the two Yuris died of the cold a day or two later, or within an hour or two. They died on the fire. Then a Mansi arrived. I don't think the Mansi people frequent that place!!!! But they must have heard a loud scream. It was probably Dubinina's. The Unknown Power may have torn out her tongue to prevent her from screaming so much. And the two Yuris may have screamed from the cold. The Mansi or Mansi people who heard these sounds came to the scene. They saw the two Yuris dead on the fire. They picked them up from the fire and laid them side by side. They must have found the tent, but they didn't search it. They were afraid they would be blamed!!! And they must have placed the lantern in the tent. Then they disappeared without a trace. After all, the Mansi are experts at this.

[ilahiyol]

I don't know how close the Mansi were to that area(?), but the sound of their screams can carry at least 5-10 km in the mountains. And the Mansi have much better hearing than the average person. They might have heard Dubinina's scream and the two Yuris' cries from the cold. They might have come to the area and made some changes. But they hid everything because they were so afraid of being accused. It would have been very difficult for them to exonerate themselves in such a situation. The fact that the two Yuris were standing side by side is proof that they weren't directly attacked, but were brought together by someone. I think it was the Mansi.

[ilahiyol]

I believe that if they are still alive, we need to find the Mansi or Mansi who witnessed the incident and get them to talk. Because Mansi are involved. They are not guilty, but they may have witnessed the incident. They could shed some more light on the incident. But 66 years after the incident, it's unlikely they're still alive. Or they could be in their late 80s or 90s now.

[Senior Maldonado]

When the snow temperature is from 0 to – 6°C, the snow moisture content (the ratio of the mass of the liquid phase (water) to the mass of dry crystals) is about 1–1.3%, and the mold pressed by the foot acquires a density and strength sufficient to resist wind erosion, and a subsequent decrease in temperature turns it into something like white “hockey” ice which can survive until spring and be the last snow that melts surrounded by the first grass.

I want to return to this theory, which I am to admit is strong.

If I have understood correctly, during the day of February 1st snow temperature on the slope was in the range [0C..-6C] and moisture index was 1.3%. When the hikers went down the slope, their feet pressed wet snow thus increasing moisture index, and the prints later became icy. This is clear and triggers no questions. The question is why the group's ski track from the Rock on DP to the tent's site had not preserved. The group members went on skis one after another, so pressure on the snow should be x9. Even more water should be pressed out of snow in ski track and then freeze. The ski track should be visible first of all. Why did natural processes work different on such limited territory? What is your explanation?

[Ziljoe]

I would guess a number of variables come into play .

I think there is less snow on the pass. The wind blows the snow off the top of the pass and all the hight exposed hill tops or flat areas. Obviously there will on occasion be no wind and the snow will maybe gain some depth. If the weather conditions allow , this snow may become hard also. If there is sun through the day it can warm the surface of rocks and add moisture and then freeze hard or harder.

It is quite possible that the snow was not lying or very deep over the pass to the tent location . That is just because it is more exposed .

If we assume that the last two photos are the last pitching of the tent , there doesn't seem to be much depth to the snow where there back packs and skis stand. The snow looks strong and hard enough to support their weight and it is here they decide to build the tent foundation.

It is perhaps that their was a fresh snowfall up to the point of the incident or some new movement of snow .

There is a great video of footprints being made by people visiting the area and some foot prints are exposed and others covered again with new hard snow.

The weather and snow conditions will always be different and can change rapidly with a short space if time.

[Partorg]

Petr Bartolomey, one of the search team members, said in a 2012 interview that ski tracks from the Dyatlovites between Pereval and Palatka were visible as early as March. In the form of a “rail” raised above the surface and not a continuous line, but in separate sections of about 20 meters.  This can be explained by the fact that in some areas of the slope the snow did not linger, and they walked on a hard, wind-blown slab, leaving no traces; in the depressions in the terrain the snow settled, and there the traces were imprinted. The same picture is seen in the section of their descent to Kedr - in some places there are traces-pillars, but in the neighboring places there are not.

[Osi]

Let's say you're standing on a layer of snow that fell days earlier. You're trying to make a footprint by stepping on this snow. In a compacted and hardened snow cover, you either won't leave any trace, or at best, you might get a footprint 1-2 cm deep. Then, using a cutting tool, cut a cube measuring 30x30x30 cm from that area. Crush that cube by slamming it violently against the asphalt, and then fill the hole where the cube was removed with the crumbled snow. Now you have a chance to get a footprint 7-8 cm deep. As a result, the path the group took from the tent to the forest had both natural snow cover and snow that had rolled down the slope and crumbled. The snow was probably fresh. Otherwise, the footprints wouldn't have been possible. On the day we moved to the tent, it started snowing heavily in warm weather. It snowed all night. Perhaps a cornice accumulation or a freshly fallen layer hit the northeast slope of the tent and flowed downwards around 10 o'clock. Then, depending on the slope, the route evolved from the tent down to the divan. After the avalanche stopped, the children got out of the tent. First, they trampled on the natural snow untouched by the slab movement. As they went further down, they trampled on the drifted snow. I think this is the most likely explanation for the raised footprints.

[sarapuk]

So, the Unknown Power wasn't a bigfoot or an alien.

I don't think the two Yuris were attacked at all. The ones who were attacked were the three who went to the tent and the four who took shelter in the den. Because they had a chance to make it out in the morning!!! The three could have returned to the tent, gathered their supplies, and left in the morning. And since they were sheltered from the cold in the snow, they could have made it out in the morning. The Unknown Power didn't want anyone to leave in the morning!!! The poor two Yuris, already half-naked and sweating profusely, froze to death themselves. And the Mansi found them by the fire and put them in a neat and tidy position.

Yes, we can rule out a bigfoot and aliens. I would also add avalanche and hurricane to the exclusion list. But I dare to suggest a little different view on what happened.

All hikers were 'attacked' with no exception. They were 'attacked' from the same source but in different ways. And that source had no intelligence at all, all 'attacks' were passive, no offense. First, the source of the trouble collapsed part of the tent making the hikers to leave it. When Yuris tried to approach the source in order to clarify what had happened, they got too close and crossed 'red line'. Here Yuris received severe damage to their health. All hikers had to start emergeny descend to the forest. On arrival to the Cedar tree, Yuris' health status had been really bad already. The rest of the group started reanimation attempts. Very soon it became clear that without medicine, ethanol, warm clothes Yuris would die inevitably. Zina volunteered to return back to the tent to fetch all the needed, even knowing that the threat might remain.

Meanwhile, the threat had expanded its zone from the tent's site to the whole slope and kept expanding it in direction to the treeline. On entering the zone, Zina was 'attacked' and very quickly perished. Rustem made attempt to rescue Zina, but he was 'attacked' also at the front edge of the zone. The last rescue attempt was done by Igor, who was 'attacked' at even shorter distance from the treeline.

While Zina, Rustem, and Igor had been trying to advance towards the tent, both Yuris died. Their clothes were taken by the remaining 4 hikers, who decided to relocate to the ravine. As the ravine was at the edge of the forest, the dangerous zone, which kept expanding, came to it. The ravine-4 sensed the danger and started emergency retreat down the creek. But they managed to walk a few meters only. The core of the zone detonated, and as a result of explosion the ravine-4 were smashed against rocks in the creek.

Low temperature and strong wind were not key actors to kill the group. They provided a background that camouflaged the whole event to look natural.

Nothing can be ruled out. Including Big Foot or Yeti or however such a creature can be described. And also Aliens can not be ruled out.

[sarapuk]

If the unknown force attacked the tent, it didn't harm anyone. The unknown force wasn't an ordinary force. It was very strong and fast. Otherwise, it wouldn't have stood a chance against seven men. And if it had attacked someone in the tent, that person would have certainly died. Yes, the unknown force attacked the tent, but it was only a threat. The young people probably resisted for a long time. But the last attack must have frightened them and they abandoned the tent! There was definitely no direct attack on the tent. It was simply an attack aimed at intimidation and threat.

We have to be careful with making such bold statements even if we are allowed to speculate. Keeping as near as possible to the facts is the best way to proceed with this mystery. So yes there appears to have been an overwhelming and unknown force at work. Exactly how that force worked and why is what we should be trying to find out. So it appears that there was a force at work at the Tent Site and the Cedar Tree and the Ravine and on the slope.

[Senior Maldonado]

Nothing can be ruled out. Including Big Foot or Yeti or however such a creature can be described. And also Aliens can not be ruled out.

As you wish... But I will not join this investigators' club of the deadend theories. First, I would like to see solid proof that Bigfoot and Aliens exist.

Neither Bigfoot nor Aliens had a single reason to kill harmless students. If we assume that these creatures do killings just for fun, the North Urals region would be dotted with corpses of Mansi, hunters. etс., since nobody can resist their huge force.

[sarapuk]

Nothing can be ruled out. Including Big Foot or Yeti or however such a creature can be described. And also Aliens can not be ruled out.

As you wish... But I will not join this investigators' club of the deadend theories. First, I would like to see solid proof that Bigfoot and Aliens exist.

Neither Bigfoot nor Aliens had a single reason to kill harmless students. If we assume that these creatures do killings just for fun, the North Urals region would be dotted with corpses of Mansi, hunters. etс., since nobody can resist their huge force.

Well Im not in any such club. Solid proof of things that are probably way beyond our understanding. Just like in Physics which is the word / term used to describe things that can not necessarily be seen or completely understood. The unknown. And therefore its impossible to say what would motivate such beings to do what they did/ do.