A rush in theories.

[Tim]

The autopsy reports and diaries are screaming at us. Clarity over emotions is the first step to chipping away at this puzzle. For example, If I choose to believe everything in the autopsy reports and diaries ( at one time I did not) , I can then make an educated guess. However if my emotions believes my guessing becomes my evidence to what had  happened, then it becomes an uneducated guess.   Think of it this way, and forgetting why they cut themselves out, and concentrate on, The time they left the tent, The time it took to reach the cedar tree, the time it took to build a fire big enough for them to recover from the effects of hypothermia, which is a medical condition, Then venture off to build a snow cave, with out tools, while others ventured back up the mountain to the tent that is destroyed to collect whatever and descend back down to the others? I provided a wind chill chart to refer to...Figure this out and it might bring us closer to why they left the tent in the first place. ...Thanks for reading....

[Star man]

That’s a useful table.  For windy conditions and-5 C temps it suggests frost bite after around about 30 minutes of exposure.  It is likely that it would have taken 45 ish minutes and possibly up to an hour to defend the slope.  This would support Doroshenko having bad frost bite by the time he got to the tree and possibly severe frost bite.  So why did he climb the tree?

Regards
Star man

[Nigel Evans]

That’s a useful table.  For windy conditions and-5 C temps it suggests frost bite after around about 30 minutes of exposure.  It is likely that it would have taken 45 ish minutes and possibly up to an hour to defend the slope.  This would support Doroshenko having bad frost bite by the time he got to the tree and possibly severe frost bite.  So why did he climb the tree?

Regards
Star man

Q. Why did most of the group not experience the same level of frostbite?
A. Because he only got FB from the wind chill from being up the tallest tree in the forest.

Q. So why did he not stay in the shelter of the forest at ground level by the fire?
A. Because he was trying to assist the other members of the group he knew had been left behind on the descent. Maybe there was an undiscovered flashlight, maybe a partly burnt branch from the fire which glowed in the wind. Plus he could call out to them.

Q. Why did he fall?
A. FB makes you clumsy. Hypothermia can cause pulmonary edema.

[Ian Jones]

Freezing point of water is 32 deg F,  Zero deg C

[Tim]

One I would think  could ecreate the fire at the  cedar tree without having to travel to the exact same spot..9 people, 2 starting the fire ,while the other seven scoured the forest for firewood in the winter, it doesn't have to be in subzero weather...Simply, if the could not keep a fire going in just  normal winter conditions  then neither could they..