Yeti, snowman, sasquatch and etc. in Dyatlov Pass Incident

We had to add this theory thanks Alex Lewis who brought up interesting points about Dyatlov Pass Incident. Now it might seem like an episode from X- files or horror movies, but certain oddities about this trip might be explained by an attack of a wild animal known indifferent places as an abdominal snowman, yeti, sasquatch, bigfoot and etc. Now we should start discussing this plausible theory from the point of view of the native Mansi population that lived near Dyatlov Pass for centuries. They do believe in angry and somewhat violent human like animals known as menkvi that roam the mountains of the Ural. The legends claim that their behavior and aggression toward the humans is the reason why gods punished the World with a great flood I mentioned earlier. Very few menkvi survived on top of the mount Luv- Syakvur near Dyatlov Pass. Others drowned. These few creatures are left to walk in solitude across empty land. They die, but they are later reborn in the same shape and appearance. Interestingly enough Menkvi are reported as migratory creatures which is consistent with the testimony of Natives in North- west USA. Additionally menkvi are supposed to smell pretty badly. This is also consistent with some reports of a bigfoot. In fact it is called Skunk Ape in Florida and South Eastern part of United States for this unflattering feature.

We should start exploring the possibility of an animal attack by stating that we are not the first to suggest this possibility. Several members of the search party in the Dyatlov Pass later remembered the state of shock that some of the native experienced once they found the bodies. Some of them believed that death of young Russian tourists in Dyatlov Pass might have been caused by a menkvi who killed several caribous or reindeer that belonged to a local Mansi herder just few weeks prior to the accident. Their bodies were left in place, but they too showed strange signs of internal damage. Mansi were somewhat uneasy about possibility to encounter once of these flesh eating monsters on Dyatlov Pass.

Let’s start examining the facts that we know. We know that the group started fairly late and walked for only 2.5 miles. We still don’t know what took them so long to collect their things and take the trail. They did spent time constructing Labaz, basically storage for extra food and clothes that they would pick up on the back. But this still doesn’t quiet explain a strange pace of a group as they walked across Dyatlov Pass. People who believe in a possibility of Yeti attack explain this delay by a creature that might have scared them. Once it was gone tourists picked up their things and went to a place where they felt was safer. And given their few options they could have assumed that side of an empty mountain would give them certain advantages. And that brings us to a subject of odd choice for location of the last base.

The last sentence in the diary of Dyatlov group was an entry written by Igor Dyatlov himself on the night of the 31st of January. As you remember the group reached the treeless area on top of the mountain, but returned to spend night in a safety of a forest. The next night they basically had to repeat the ascent. In the last entry Igor stated: “It is hard to imagine such a comfort somewhere on the ridge, with a piercing wind, hundreds kilometers away from human settlements.” Yet ironically the next day he leads his friends to that same ridge and establishes a base there. Looking at the last pictures from a trip we can only imagine how hard it was to climb this mountain and establish a tent on a side of Kholat Syakhl. Additionally search and rescue party found only one log in the tent. If you were to spend a night in cold conditions you would probably take more. But the tourists didn’t take much firewood with them and didn’t even try to assemble a furnace to keep warm. Such experiments are common during training for trip, but certainly look odd during an actual track.

Cuts on the side of the tent were made from the inside, but the holes visible on the pictures were increased by the members of the party that ripped them open, greatly increasing the size for entrance. If we take a possibility of an animal attack we can assume that the holes were not made so much for the escape as much for the surveillance of the mountain. Something threatened them and they needed a view toward the forest. We can only assume the fear that they might have felt if they saw the dark figure approach their small tent. It is unlikely that they would spend much time on the tent gathering their things. Instead they ran down the slope. It is possible that they tried to make their way back to the Labaz where they left their clothes and food. They took the wrong valley and missed their path to possible escape. The rest of the scenario is quiet dramatic. Several tourist freeze, others are simply attacked by this creature. If you look at the picture of a body of Zolotarev you can notice a camera that hangs around his neck. It was damaged by the melting water so we don't know what are the pictures he made. But it is certainly strange that a man leaves a tent with this seemingly useless item. It seems that he had something important to photograph. That "something" completely ignored the camera and left it around his neck.

We should make a clarification on a popular misconception that exists among sites devoted to the fate of Dyatlov Pass tragedy. Several people claimed Dyatlov once stated:

“Now we know that the snowman (yeti) exists”

It is a fictitious statement that is still commonly found on many sites including some very respectable ones. As we said before it is an example of fake journalism. Some Russian journalist simply invented this phrase. We couldn't find the direct source for this line. It doesn't come from a diary, it wasn't found in the personal notes and in fact no document exists that either makes this claim or describes such a discovere. But we came up with a possible inspiration for this lie.

Rescue members discovered a newspaper made by the group that was called an “Evening Otorten”. It was dated on 1st of February, although many believe it was written either late 31st of January or early 1st of February when the group slept in the forest. Firstly the group diary had no entries on this date which suggest the group was either too tired or too scared from their trip.

Secondly one of the articles stated that there was a competition in furnace assembly between Doroshenko and Kholmogorova in the Sport section. The furnace was not assembled by the group on February 1st so it is possible to assume that the newspaper was done before the final ascent to the Kholat Syakhl. This paper does mention Yeti in its Science section. Its exact translation goes.

“An existence of a snowman is hot topic for the debate among the scientific community. According to last testimonies it lives in the Northern Urals, around mount Otorten”.

It is possible that some of the locals warned the group against going into a forest, especially after an attack on the reindeer herd by an unknown creature or creatures. Yury Yudin remembers pissed off Igor Dyatlov after his conversation with the local. Although he didn’t heard the subject of the conversation he guessed a local man tried to talk him out of going to Otorten. This might be a reason why a snowman was mentioned in the Evening Otorten by the group.

Another proof of an Yeti encounter is a blur picture, last shot in the film 3. Some sites claim that no one in the group wore these clothes or that the figure doesn't look like anyone in the Dyatlov group. But lets see at the last 4 pictures of this film. All four picture Thibeaux- Brignolles about the same time. In the second to last picture he walks away into forest. It is very likely that in the last photo he comes back.

Interestingly, the American Embassy in Nepal sent a document to The Department of State, Washington entitled 'Regulations covering mountain climbing expeditions in Nepal - Relating to Yeti'. It contained three regulations for that climbers must abide by should they encounter a Yeti. Interestingly, the date shown on this document is December 20, 1959.

These are only few of the theories concerning Dyatlov Pass Incident. Many are more bizarre, strange and quiet frankly dumb ideas that circulate out there. Some blame the spirits others blame the paradoxical undressing that lead to hypothermia. All these theories ignore the fact that only two bodies showed signs of undressing after they left the tent. And it was the first two bodies found under the cedar. Their clothes were removed after they died. We can assume the bodies were beginning to show first signs of rigor mortis or stiffness after death. The clothes of dead victims were cut off and later found near the bodies in the den. This proves that people were aware of the danger of hypothermia and tried everything they could to save themselves. Why did they leave the tent with all the clothes and boots inside is still a mystery. Many other theories about Dyatlov Pass Incident surfaced in the past decades. Few of these, however, explain a wide range of physical injuries that the group experienced. So there is no much point in mentioning them.

Unfortunately these were not the last victims of the Kholat Syakhl and Dyatlov Pass. From 1960-61 several airplane crashes took away lives of nine pilots and geologists who were sent to Dyatlov Pass. For a time flights were totally canceled in the region. Among more recent victims of the mountain was a crash of Mi-8 in 2009. Pilots ignored long standing unofficial no- fly zone. Fortunately they survived the cash, but they couldn't explain why their helicopter went down so quickly and without any warning. Tourists today repeat the track of the Dyatlov group, but none of groups ever contain 9 people. In the early 2000's a group of 9 volunteers under supervision of rescue crew repeated the same descent down the slope of Kholat Syakhl. Despite snow cover and night time none of the participants got any significant bruises or cuts. Those who observed the students did not report any difficulty in locating members on the mountain side. None of the group members were lost and vocal/ eye contact was constant between group members at all times. This only adds to the mystery of what really happened on Dyatlov Pass that night. The case of Dyatlov Pass deaths remains open.