Dyatlov Pass Den is one of the key issues in the whole Dyatlov Pass Incident. On one hand it clearly shows that member of the party were sane enough to do anything in their power to survive. On the other hand it is still unclear on why their attempts didn't work.
The Den of the Dyatlov Pass Incident
The den was made by surviving four members of the
Dyatlov group 70- 75 meters from the cedar in a ravine that was hidden
from cold winds. It was discovered in May of 1959, shortly after snow
began to melt in the region. Several items were discovered, which showed
the correct direction for the search team. A trail of plucked pine
branches and scraps of clothing led the search to the hollow stream.
Excavation in a valley allowed to find remains of the den that Dyatlov
group have constructed at a depth of 2.5 meters. They laid the floor of
the Den with 14 peacks of small firs and one of birch. A total area of
the floor was about 3 m² . On the floor lay a few pieces of clothing.
The position of objects on the floor showed four spots made as "seats"
for four people.
Ortyukov is in military uniform and radio man
is pictured here on the right in a stripped hat. Removal of the bodies
from a ravine at Dyatlov Pass.
Upon further searching the
ravine, about six meters downstream of the creek flow several bodies
were discovered under a layer of 2.5 meters of snow. Body of Ludmila
Dubinina, was standing on her knees, with a chest on the ledge, forming
a stream's waterfall, head upstream. Almost immediately next to her head
search team found the bodies of three men. Thibault-Brignoles was lying
separately and Kolevatov and Zolotarev lying "chest-to-back." At the
time of the discovery all the bodies were in the water and were
described as partially decomposed. The text of the Criminal
Investigation noted the need for removing them from the stream, as the
body can further decompose even more in a fast-flowing stream.
Digging of the Den was probably an idea of Zolotarev. It was a common way to survive winters at the front and given the circumstances it offered the best chance for survival for those who remained behind waiting in hope that their three friends will make it to the top of the mountain. It further undermines the theory of "paradox undressing". The group clearly realized their threats and did everything they could to preserve themselves. Fir and birch branches were brought here and laid out to minimize contact of human bodies and cold snow underneath. Furthermore Ludmila Dubinina had sweater and pants of Krivonischenko rapped around her legs. Both as it turned out had radiation present on them.
However the strangeness of the case was not resolved. In fact it became more weird. All, but three members had significant damage to their bones. They were crushed with immense force. Doctors compared the extend of the damage to being hit by a car. A second thing that is striking about the den is that bodies were actually found few feet from their improvised shelter in the deep part of the ravine on the area of only 4 square meters. Some of the clothes that were taken from bodies left underneath the cedar tree were placed on the cedar branches, but apparently they were not used.
The corpses were found few meters away from the
discovered clothes of Krivonischenko and Doroshenko - pants,
sweater. All clothes had traces of flat cuts, as they were
taken from the dead corpses of Doroshenko and
Krivonischenko. Corpses of Thibault-Brignoles and Zolotarev
were found well dressed, Dubinina was dressed worse than
other members- her jacket of faux fur and hat were on
Zolotarev, her leg was wrapped in a woolen trousers of
Krivonischenko. Krivonischenko knife was found next to
corpses, it was used to cut off branches of young
firs.
- Decision to dismiss criminal case, Official criminal
investigation