I believe but can not prove the last camp was made because the group did not want to be thought of as failures beaten back by weather. The diaries give me the sense the the group was individually and collectively strong willed, but I do not read Russian. Nobody was going to whine about rough weather because there was no reason to whine. Forester Rempel warned Igor about the inadvisability of taking the route to Ortoten. The group had a timetable to keep according to the case files. They went. It was just some rough weather. The group diary supports that idea. They pushed against the weather because it was a challenge and there was a deadline. Zolo may have thought differently.He was not interested in a challenge as much as certification. The case files allude to this. He wanted a teaching job but not as a PE teacher in school.Outdoor education must have been a better fit. Opportunity got him on the hike. He apparently did not pay anyone off to get a spot in the group. Nothing came out after the fact that Yuri nor that other guy who needed to make up coursework were bumped specifically to admit Zolo. For him the hike was a means to an end and a lucky break.
They thought they could overcome bad weather.After all they did get up the Auspya valley by trail lazing deep snow. It would make for a good drinking story later on at home, or cigarettes and coffee, if you prefer. Some smoked.
Yes, they took time to pitch the tent and by all indications were ready to settle in for the night. Nobody did it for them. Footprints, or lack there suggest they did not have outside help with their tent. Having taken off heavy ski pants leads me to believe they were getting ready for bed. Perhaps Russians sleep in their ski pants, I don't have any. The unknown compelling force or snow slide, as I prefer to call it.collapsed the tent and broke some supports. That is what the rescuer photos show. I am no mind reader but perhaps the dark, the damage and concern about an actual avalanche motivated them. It was clear they left the tent. Was that better than staying? That is exactly what they did. I can only believe that their hike to the woods, equipped as they were, was owing to combination of things. One thing is they may have misjudged the distance, or maybe they were better at estimating distances than I am.. Another thing is that bad weather eventually improves The storm that is Jupiter's red spot is 300 years old, according to records. Yet another is that there was no alternative place to go or practical way to make the camp repairs again until conditions improved. How can I say this? I say it because they did not do it. Making a fire and getting out of the wind is sensible. Doing that just outside the collapsed tent would be hard, I think.They had what they needed for a short hop to the woods and back by breakfast the next day. They had non slip valenkis, matches, knives, light and body coveriings. They could scrounge up firewood, dry off any wet clothes and wait. That is exactly what they did. They could shelter in a ravine. They did that too. They could try to return to the tent. So they did. Nature wasn't so obliging. A fatalist would claim it was their pre ordained destiny. Humans are imaginative. One form of it is called hope or wishful thinking. Calculative reasoning is another. I've tried both. I would,say that anyone who stays calm in a crisis just does not know all the facts. I've done that too. Some people will want to relive an experience to prove a point. That happens on occasion at Dyatlov Pass.
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