The Dyatlov Pass incident, named in honor of Igor Dyatlov, leader of an expedition whose fate was mysterious, is one of the most chilling mysteries in history. On January 25th, 1959, nine friends and hikers, all under 25 years old, embarked on a ski trip in the Ural Mountains, between the Republic of Komi and Sverdlovosk. This was the last thing ever heard from them before they were all found lifeless months later.

The official cause of death of these young people was classified as a “powerful unknown force,” and the documents of this investigation were kept secret for decades. When the record was finally opened, it was discovered that several pages were missing and that there were too many loose ends.

The eight hikers were students at the State Technical University of the Urals, and were accompanied by an expert guide. They had the aim to reach the mountain Otorten, through a route of category III. Although this is a category of high difficulty, it posed no problem for these brave travelers, as they had participated in tours of the same difficulty in similar routes. Initially it was 9 hikers, however, Yuri Yudin said goodbye to his peers in Vizha because of a disease. According to the official version, the travelers left some belongings such as documents and cameras at this point, which would later help in the search.

As the days pass, the weather got worse for the travelers, who were lost due to the poor visibility, veering westward bound mountain Kholat Syakhl, better known as the Mountain of Death. At this point they decided to rest and camp, and continue in their way as soon as the weather permitted it; however, this could never happen.

According to calculations of the expedition leader, they would send a telegram when they went back, passing through Vizhai, on February 12th to the health club they belonged. Days passed and on February 20th, the relatives of the explorers are the ones who warn their disappearance to start searching, with the help from the army and police, with the highest technology and transportation.

On February 26th, they found the camp in the Mountain of Death, where a destroyed tent was found, but there was no trace of belongings or the youngsters. Later, following some footprints, they found the first two bodies; they were wearing only their underwear and, remains of blood indicated that they were attempting to climb a tree. 600 meters ahead, they found three other bodies whose cause of death indicated hypothermia, but were found in positions that suggested they were trying to protect from something. Months later, they found the remaining bodies, buried in the snow and mysteriously, were wearing clothes that belonged to the other hikers. They also found a camera in the neck of one of the boys; they were able to rescue some photos, however,most of the film was damaged.

The mysterious outcome of these hikers showed that several had fatal injuries or damage in their skull. One of the girls had no ribs, no tongue, and showed levels of radioactivity in her clothing. Another boy had missing teeth, and all showed internal injuries, which indicated that there wasn’t any sort of fight or physical struggle. That is why the possibility of being attacked by the natives of the region was ruled out.

The hiker who had to give up the expedition due to illness, Yuri Yudin, said that when he was called to identify the bodies and the belongings of his friends, he identified military clothing. This made him think that Soviet military was responsible for this tragedy, somehow. However, Yudin would die in 2013 without knowing what had really happened to his friends.