History
The Dyatlov Pass Incident: Sverdlovsk to Kholat Syakhl
Contains accounts of deaths in extreme cold.
In January 1959 a group of ten experienced hikers from the Ural Polytechnical Institute set out on a ski trek into the northern Urals. Nine never came back: they cut their way out of their tent on a mountain slope one February night and died in the snow, and the cause is still discussed.
This route follows the group from the institute in Sverdlovsk by train and lorry to the last village, then up to the mountain and the pass now named after them, and ends with the survivor's memorial. It sticks to the record; the explanations are left to the reader. The exact tent site is approximate.
Timeline & locations
What do the location labels mean?
- Approximate
- The right area — a town, park or district — but not a precise spot.
The expedition began among students. Igor Dyatlov, a 23-year-old radio engineering student, led a group of ten, eight men and two women, all experienced hikers. Their goal was Grade III, then the highest certification in the Soviet Union, which required a trek of at least 300 km. On 23 January 1959 they received their route book and left Sverdlovsk, today's Yekaterinburg. The Polytechnic Institute no longer exists under that name: after a merger finished in 2011 it is part of Ural Federal University.
Location precision: The pin marks Ural Federal University, which absorbed the institute, not a specific building the group used.
Visitor guidance: Today a working university, Ural Federal University; there is no memorial to the group at the pin.
Sources
- Ural Federal University
- Locator:
- History
- Dyatlov Pass incident
- Locator:
- Background, Expedition, Search and discovery, Conclusions, Aftermath
- Ural Federal University
The hikers reached Ivdel by train in the early morning of 25 January 1959. The town lies 535 km north of Yekaterinburg, and its past includes a harsher chapter: the Ivdellag gulag camp was formed there in 1937, and Ivdel received town status in 1943. For the group it was simply the railhead. From here they had to go on by road to the last village before the wilderness.
Open area inGoogle MapsApple MapsOrganic MapsOpenStreetMap60.68333, 60.41667Visitability not confirmedLocation precision: The pin marks the town centre; the sources do not say where the group spent the night.
Sources
- Ivdel
- Locator:
- Lead, History
- Dyatlov Pass incident
- Locator:
- Background, Expedition, Search and discovery, Conclusions, Aftermath
- Ivdel
On 26 January the group took a lorry to Vizhai, the last inhabited settlement to the north. The next day they began the trek towards Mount Otorten. On 28 January Yuri Yudin, who had several health ailments, turned back with knee and joint pain: a decision that left him the only member of the party to survive. Before leaving, Dyatlov had promised to telegram the sports club as soon as the group returned to Vizhai.
Not pinned on the mapVisitability not confirmedLocation precision: The sources name the village but give no coordinates, so this stop is not pinned on the map.
Sources
- Dyatlov Pass incident
- Locator:
- Background, Expedition, Search and discovery, Conclusions, Aftermath
- Dyatlov Pass incident
On 1 February snow and poor visibility made the group drift west towards Kholat Syakhl, a Mansi name usually translated "dead mountain" or "silent peak". They camped on the slope instead of going 1.5 km down to the forest. That night they cut their way out of the tent with knives and fled. Searchers found the tent empty on 26 February; footprints in socks or bare feet led to a large Siberian pine, where the first bodies lay. The last four were found on 4 May under 4 m of snow in a ravine. In 2020 Russian authorities concluded that an avalanche most likely forced them out.
Location precision: The pin marks the mountain; the final camp lay on its eastern slope and the forest and ravine about 1.5 km away.
Sources
- Dyatlov Pass incident
- Locator:
- Background, Expedition, Search and discovery, Conclusions, Aftermath
- Kholat Syakhl
- Locator:
- Lead
- Dyatlov Pass incident
The pass that now carries the leader's name lies between Kholat Syakhl and a nameless 905 m height, 128 km north-west of Ivdel. It was named in memory of the group later, although the tent stood about 1,700 m away on the eastern slope of the mountain. A prominent rock outcrop in the area now serves as a memorial to the nine.
Location precision: The pin marks the pass as mapped on Russian Wikipedia; the memorial rock is somewhere in the area, not at the pin.
Sources
- Dyatlov Pass incident
- Locator:
- Background, Expedition, Search and discovery, Conclusions, Aftermath
- Перевал Дятлова
- Locator:
- Lead, Origin of the name
- Dyatlov Pass incident
Yuri Yudin, who turned back on 28 January, lived until 2013. On 1 July 2016 a memorial plaque dedicated to him was inaugurated in Solikamsk, in Perm Krai on the western side of the Urals. The town itself is far older than the story: it was first recorded in 1430 as Usolye-na-Kamskom, a salt-mining settlement.
Open area inGoogle MapsApple MapsOrganic MapsOpenStreetMap59.64333, 56.75000Visitability not confirmedLocation precision: The pin marks the town centre, not the plaque itself.
Sources
- Solikamsk
- Locator:
- History
- Dyatlov Pass incident
- Locator:
- Background, Expedition, Search and discovery, Conclusions, Aftermath
- Solikamsk
