Mountain of the Dead: The Dyatlov Pass Incident

by Keith McCloskey

In January 1959, ten experienced young skiers set out for Mount Otorten in the far north of Russia. While one of the skiers fell ill and returned., the remaining nine lost their way and ended up on another mountain slope known as Kholat Syakhl (or ‘Mountain of the Dead’).On the night of 1 February 1959 something or someone caused the skiers to flee their tent in such terror that they used knives to slash their way out. Search parties were sent out and their bodies were found, some with massive internal injuries but with no external marks on them. The autopsy stated the violent injuries were caused by ‘an unknown compelling force’. The area was sealed off for years by the authorities and the full events of that night remained unexplained.Using original research carried out in Russia and photographs from the skier's cameras, Keith McCloskey attempts to explain what happened to the nine young people who lost their lives in the mysterious ‘Dyatlov Pass Incident’.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, True Crime, Mystery, Russia, Ebooks, Historical

245 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2013

Reviews

[Sharon Orlopp]

The description of the book, Mountain of the Dead: The Dyatlov Pass Incident, sounded intriguing so I listened to it on audiobook. Unfortunately, it ended up in my DNF pile. It's hard to tell if it was from the writing style or the narration, but I felt like I was listening to a history book rather than a fascinating and unusual true crime story involving ten Russian skiers.

[Ruth Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this book straight after finishing “Dead Mountain: The True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident” by Donnie Eicher.

As with Dead Mountain this book is well written and well researched.

I did notice that there were a quite a few discrepancies in the facts of the story between the two books, but on the whole I prefer this account.

Other reviewers have commented on the last chapter, implying that the author had handed the book over to be completed by someone else. I didn’t see it that way. While I could have done without Shimon Davidenko’s, (the supposed unknown! tenth member of the group) input, it has its place among some of the other implausible, and often bizarre, theories that have been put forward.

I think now, after two books, that I’ve had my fill of the Dyatlov story. I don’t think the mystery will ever be solved, and my heart goes out to the families of the hikers who, more than fifty years later, still don’t know what happened to their loved ones.

[Calzean · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author relates the various theories regarding the strange deaths of nine hikers in the wilds of Siberia. This was a hit and miss book. The story is interesting and the various theories all appeared to have some degree of credence. But the writing is repetitive, there is an overuse of Wikipedia and there is a large chapter that is a copy and paste of one guy's conspiracy theory.

[Kristine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook...
I still have no idea what exactly is the author's perspective what might have happened. There seem to be many and none of them this-worldly.
Basilisk-like light? I don't know.

I do not think this does justice to the real lives lost in this tragedy.

[Lex · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disjointed narrative, repetitive, difficult to follow. Made an intriguing case boring to read about, and citing Wikipedia as a source multiple times speaks volumes about the level of research done.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was fascinated until the UFO stuff popped up.

[Barbara Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I purchased through Bookbub.
I had never heard of the Dyatlov Pass incident before reading this book.
Possibly because it happened in the Ural Mountains in Russia. Possibly because it was in 1959 during the Cold War.
And how different the world was in 1959, Alaska only becoming the 49th state in USA.
A popular activity among students was “tourism” which was a wide term that covered organized outdoor activities and included hiking, camping, rock climbing and skiing.
A group of nine young people, most university students set out on a ski trip, an officially sanctioned activity, expected to take 22 days.
The group of seven men and two women had no idea their lives would end and it would become such an unsolved mystery.
Diary entries stopped after several days into the trip.
No one knows what happened after they set up camp for the night—in one large tent together— to cause them all to panic and exit the tent as fast as possible by slashing their way out of the tent using knives. (There were no zippers, only buttons in the tent opening.)
What made them leave in such a hurry?
What made them leave behind everything that would enable them to survive the harsh winter conditions?
The book gives the details of their autopsy reports and that is where it gets even stranger. They were found in three different locations: some suffering serious and seemingly inexplicable internal injuries, one with her tongue missing, some with eyeballs missing, most died of hypothermia.
And the big question remains—what happened to them that they didn’t return to their tent?
The book features the many theories of what had happened, but as yet no one knows why these nine young people lost their lives.
I was totally pulled into the mystery of what happened to them. Some parts of the book was a little too detailed for me, but all in all I liked the book and wish I there were answers to as what happened on that fateful night.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t remember when I first heard of the Dyatlov Pass Incident, but it fascinates me. When I saw this book available from the library, I knew I had to snag it. All things considered, it was interesting and informative, but as a solution, of course it was left wanting. I think it’s one of those mysteries that will likely never be solved.

This book gives a lot of information about the backgrounds of the hikers, the situation in the USSR at the time, including military and economic info, and shares as much factual information as is known about the hike up until the day of the incident, when no journal logs were recorded. Then sometimes in the night of February 1st & morning of February 2nd, 1959, all nine of the hikers left their tent in a huge hurry, without their protective gear, without even shoes, and fled into the night. What they were running from is unknown, but it had to be something very alarming to make them cut their way out of their tent and take off into subzero temps unprotected.

All nine of them were dead by morning - most from hypothermia, but a few from traumatic injuries that honestly make no sense. Internal injuries consistent with the force of a car accident - but no external trauma to indicate how it had happened. Two members with broken ribs and blunt force trauma injuries, two with missing eyes, one with a missing tongue and lips (and a stomach full of blood, indicating that happened while she was alive - poor woman), one with missing eyebrows. The ones with the missing soft tissues were found in a ravine creek bed, but under 13ft of snow. I don’t know if animals or fish could have eaten their soft tissues while they lay unfound from February 2nd to May 4th, when these last 4 were found. (The first five members were found on February 26.)

The book then goes on to share various investigation info that is known (and made accessible), as well as a few theories on what might have happened, ranging from suspicions of a Yeti (or more likely bear or wolf) attack, a flash fire in the collapsible stove they used for cooking and heating in the tent, military testing, chemical or biological weapons testing, radiation, etc… to an escape from a local gulag that ran into them, to aliens, or unknown beings of light and force.

For what it’s worth, I think that it likely was some sort of military testing that they just happened to get caught in the middle of, or that went wrong somehow, and was covered up. Nine dead university students is tragic, and definitely would garner attention for a while, but it’s not unheard of for the USSR to cover up things that it doesn’t want getting out, especially concerning potential military or state secrets. This was Cold War era USSR. It doesn’t really get more secretive than that.

But that’s just my own theory, and honestly, it’s just based on my impressions of the USSR’s history of secretive moves and cover ups that makes me think that’s the most likely explanation.

I certainly don’t think that there’s any credence to the Yeti theory, or any other animal for that matter. First, Yetis aren’t real. But even if they were simply mistaking another animal for one, there were no animal tracks found anywhere near the camp or the bodies’ locations. The hikers’ footprints remained, even under fresh snowfall, because of how they moved and compressed the snow. Animals might not leave the same type of tracks, but there would be SOME evidence of them. And if animal tracks were found, that is a tidy explanation for the mystery, and so would have been the official conclusion immediately were that possible.

Likewise, I don’t buy the story of the mysterious lights that a pit-mine worker reported seeing, and attributing to the Dyatlov mystery. In his story, he encountered a few “projector-like” light beams that reacted ONLY to the human glance. If you looked at them, they would “look” back at you and come toward you, and increase in number. He reports testing to see if they would react to a cigarette lighter, and they did not, nor to shouting, or any other method he tried - only when he looked at them. He also reports seeing another similar report in a newspaper, and eventually tracking down the man who claimed the original sighting, with a similar tale.

Up to this point, I have questions, but I could maybe go along and allow that they saw what they say they did. Each only saw this one time, in the dark, in a remote location, and importantly, both experienced this in the summer/early fall. We know that there are real animals that can create light - lightning bugs/fireflies, some other insects and snails - as well as fungi that can create bioluminescence. It seems likely to me that they saw something like this and maybe misinterpreted what they were seeing due to tiredness or some other mundane cause.

Where this tale loses me, is that he (the man relating this theory, not the author, to be clear) makes a HUGE leap from seeing lights that react to being observed (if indeed that’s even true) to lights that attack and have ultrasonic or some sort of compression attack when CONTINUALLY viewed. IE: Someone in the Dyatlov party observed one or more of these lights, and kept watching it until it grew aggressive. The attack then scared the party that was getting ready for sleep and thus not in their snow gear, out of the tent, and to their deaths.

To me, this sounds like grasping at straws to make his “theory” relevant to the evidence of what happened to these hikers. Nothing in his own, or secondhand retelling of the other, account indicates any type of aggression or attack, so this assumption to make the theory that it was the same lights he saw fit makes no sense to me.

Finally, there’s an account of a story from a man who claimed that he “met up” with the hikers while they were en route, and joined them for the hike, only to be the sole survivor. Honestly, this nonsense should not have been included in the book, if you ask me, because it’s obviously a factually flawed account filled with outright lies and does a disservice to the actual victims. This dude couldn’t even get their names right at the very least, and there was no mention of him in any journal entry from any day of the week they were all together before the incident, but he claims that he somehow survived on a chocolate bar, alone, on the trek back to town, and then just went back to his family’s house. Didn’t bother telling anyone what happened to try to help his supposed friends though. Just wants some attention now. Grifters gonna grift, I guess.

Anyway - I find this story chilling and eerie and creepy in a way I just can’t really define, despite there not really being anything overtly scary about it. I had disturbing dreams the night I listened to the bulk of this, and that’s high praise from me, that a book can get into my psyche like that. It’s VERY rare for that to happen in nonfiction. Skimming some of the reviews of this, it seems people found it lacking, but I strongly suspected what I would get from this, and it didn’t disappoint. I found it fascinating and well researched and well written - insofar as the sections the author didn’t just relate from other people’s stories in their own words.

Update! It seems that I was wrong - an official cause has been identified, 7 years after this was published. Official ruling: A slab avalanche.

On July 11, 2020, Andrey Kuryakov, deputy head of the Urals Federal District directorate of the Prosecutor-General's Office, announced an avalanche as the "official cause of death" for the Dyatlov group in 1959. Later independent computer simulation and analysis by Swiss researchers also suggest avalanche as the cause. Summarizing Kuryakov's report in The New Yorker, Douglas Preston writes:

The most appealing aspect of Kuryakov's scenario is that the Dyatlov party's actions no longer seem irrational. The snow slab, according to Greene, probably would have made loud cracks and rumbles as it fell across the tent, making an avalanche seem imminent. Kuryakov noted that although the skiers made an error in the placement of their tent, everything they did subsequently was textbook: They conducted an emergency evacuation to ground that would be safe from an avalanche, they took shelter in the woods, they started a fire, they dug a snow cave. Had they been less experienced, they might have remained near the tent, dug it out and survived. But avalanches are by far the biggest risk in the mountains in winter. The more experience you have, the more you fear them. The skiers' expertise doomed them.

[Andrew Garvey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't you just hate it when a book you're enjoying suddenly, and spectacularly falls to bits?

McCloskey's look at the still-mysterious deaths of nine Russian ski/hikers in 1959 might be clunkily written but up until chapter 8 (of 9) it's still a clear, even-handed look at the kind of story that's far too often the natural home of swivel-eyed nutjobs who simply can't think properly.

The author may make a few too many leaps of logic here and there but in outlining what is known about the group's activities, and then looking at the major theories (including UFOs, murder by special forces troops or escaped Gulag inmates, secret weapon tests, political intrigues or, of course, wolves, bears, yetis and trolls) he does a fine job of summarising a genuinely fascinating story in a sensible way.

Then, for some reason perhaps more baffling than the incident itself, he hands over that eighth chapter to one of those maniacs who specialises in churning out turgidly written, utterly preposterous twaddle masquerading as theory.

I'm not sure I can stress this enough but DO NOT READ CHAPTER 8.

Good in parts, but hugely frustrating in others, Mountain of the Dead is still an interesting enough read and at least McCloskey draws some reasonable conclusions at the end.

[Andy Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

In January 1959 nine Russian university students disappeared after a 'ski tourist' trip to the northern Ural mountains (Mount Otorten). The frozen bodies were discovered by search parties several weeks later. To this day, there is no accepted explanation of what happened to them.
The Dyatlov Incident was covered up for many years, by the Soviets and in turn the Russians. It has only recently come to the attention of Western media, with a fifth book being published last week (Dyatlov Pass Incident: The Grotesque Death Of Nine).
This was the first, published in 2013, and does a perfectly good job of explaining all the evidence, and discusssing the subsequent cover-up and investigations.
For any mystery lover it is fascinating stuff; in addition to descriptions of life in Krushchev's USSR, and the logistics of palnning an expedition into the Siberian taiga in the 1950s.
Interesting also, is the nearest town of Ivdel. Like many towns in the area they began as residences for the families of guards running nearby Gulags (mainly ex-Gulags in 1959). Then, and indeed still today, but to a lesser extent, its inhabitants were made up of released prisoners who had finished their sentences and either had no home to return to, or did not have the money to return, and their now retired guards, often living next door to each other.
McCloskey's book was used for a film made in the same year. There has just been an 8 episode mini-series (which I think has been fictionalised) on Russian TV, called Pereval Dyatlova (Dead Mountain), coming to the UK later this year.
I'm keen to read reviews of the last two books (both from 2020) to discover if there have been any recent developments to the mystery, Death of Nine: The Dyatlov Pass Mystery, and the Downey version referred to above.
The BBC made a radio production in 2019 which is available here.

[Desirae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of all the books written on the Dyatlov mystery, McCloskey’s stands among the few that resist the urge to sensationalize. It doesn’t chase shadows or conjure unlikely explanations. Instead, it lays out the known facts with care, sifts through prevailing theories—sound and unsound—and allows the reader to weigh what holds water and what doesn’t. Unlike many accounts clouded by bias or fanciful leaps, this one keeps its feet on the ground.

Still, the book doesn’t shy from pointing out troubling details—hints of official silence, the presence of a Geiger counter during the search, decisions made without explanation. But McCloskey doesn’t dwell on them. He notes them and moves on, letting the strangeness speak for itself.

By the final page, I leaned toward the belief that the event was more criminal than otherworldly. But the strength of the book lies in its refusal to decide for you. It lets you sit with the facts, the context, and the questions. And those questions have lingered for nearly six decades now. No firm answer has surfaced, and with each passing year, the odds grow slimmer.

The writing is plainspoken, almost clinical in its detail. At times it nearly overwhelms, especially when wading through the thicket of unfamiliar Russian names. But that’s part of the landscape—this story is steeped in a time and place that was tightly guarded and deeply paranoid.

Set against the Cold War’s peak, the backdrop is one of secrets and suspicion. Military outposts were scattered across the land—some visible, many not. Weapon experiments, surveillance, and tests no one spoke of. Could such a shadow have touched the hikers’ fate? Perhaps. It’s a question worth holding, but not one easily answered.

What’s important, McCloskey reminds us, is to avoid the extremes: the kind of blind skepticism that insists on simple answers even where none exist, and the kind of wild speculation that leaps to aliens or ghosts without a shred of grounding. Yes, there were strange lights seen in the area around that time. But there’s no evidence the hikers saw them. No clear link can be drawn.

Three things seem certain, though little else does.

First: no theory—mundane or fantastic—fits all the facts. That’s part of what keeps the story alive.

Second: whatever they feared, it likely wasn’t in the forest below. Their descent into the trees suggests they fled from something at the tent—or something that came from above. Not a Yeti. There were no tracks to speak of. The myth appeals because it offers a clean dose of terror, but the snow tells no such tale.

Third: whatever occurred, it was disturbing enough to send trained, rational people into blind panic. These were not novices. They were seasoned, prepared, aware of the terrain and its dangers. And yet, something drove them to their deaths, in scattered, tragic disorder.

The condition of the bodies, the way they were found—it all points to something unusual, something not easily explained away. And the government's response—tight-lipped, highly involved, and swift to seal off the area—hints that more was known than was ever told.

In the end, McCloskey’s book doesn’t solve the mystery. But it respects it. It gives it shape without trying to force a conclusion. And that may be the most honest approach of all.

A true-life enigma. A sober, engrossing read.

[Jess Eats Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very repetitive, but interesting.
.

[Brian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mountain of the Dead scares me silly. Each page adds to the horror as suspicion turns to certainty: author Keith McCloskey did all his research for the book online. Oh, I have no reason to doubt the claim that he actually traveled to Russia, but to what end is a mystery. He was given no special access, for example, to any material not readily available otherwise. He might just as well have stayed home at his computer. Which is exactly what I would encourage his potential readers to do.

I might assign some value to his "research" if he merely saved me the time of tracking down a number of websites with interesting information. What he clearly discovered, however, is that most of the sites in question regurgitated the same facts as all the others. Those facts being in short supply, he had to find another way to fill out his book, and he picked the laziest possible solution: to turn the book into a survey of all the deranged theories surrounding the case.

The case is this. Nine skiers/hikers went into the Russian wilderness, camped on the side of Kholat Syakhl ("Mountain of the Dead" in one translation, the not quite so forbidding "Dead Mountain" in another), and died. The manner and circumstances of their deaths are what give this tale its otherworldly sheen. For reasons unknown, they appear to have exited their tent by knifing through it from the inside, calmly walked about a mile down the mountain -- wearing no shoes and grossly inadequate clothing -- split into two groups, and froze to death. The bodies belonging to one group were otherwise more or less uninjured while the others included significant internal damage and strange injuries such as missing eyes and a missing tongue.

The eyes and tongue tell you where McCloskey is going. One's first thought regarding them must be predation, but that's much too prosaic for this guy: he doesn't even bother to address the issue. He lumps them together with broken ribs and fractured skulls to suggest the fantastic, quickly dismissing the fact that the condition of the bones just might have something to do with where the bodies were found; to wit, at the bottom of a ravine. He dismisses this due to a lack of external injuries to account for them. Which begs the question, how unusual is this really? I, for one, would like to know. McCloskey, however, doesn't want to tell me.

So after the initial description of the events leading up to the tragedy and then its immediate aftermath, the bulk of which can be found on Wikipedia and other easily accessed websites, about all McCloskey has left are those crackpot theories. We get them all: UFOs, paranormal activity, and secret government slash military tests gone awry. He does provide a brief rational explanation: an avalanche followed by "paradoxical undressing," a known condition that causes a freezing victim to actually remove their clothing. But he admits he isn't buying that; he falls into the military testing camp.

Interestingly, in spite of his own preference, he gives the most space to a ludicrous story of a man who once encountered (he says) floating lights that reacted to the human glance. I suppose even McCloskey found this bit of fantasy too much to take so he lets the man tell it in his own words. It reads like a very bad movie treatment as this clown unabashedly embellishes his supposed and rather benign experience with pressure beams and precise details of how the hikers met their various ends. He ends the tale with warnings and advice to us all in case we should ever encounter this deadly phenomenon. To call this or any of the viewpoints expressed in this book "theories" is disingenuous to say the least.

That said, the case itself is certainly bizarre, the more so, of course, because there are so few facts. With what is known to date, I can't even begin to figure it out. I can understand the hikers cutting their way out of their tent if it was covered by a small avalanche, but I cannot fathom them then abandoning it along with all their supplies. I suppose if they were fearful of more snow coming down the mountain, they may have instinctively turned tail, but then why the seemingly orderly march down the slope? It truly makes no sense.

So, yeah, the case is a real campfire story. The book, on the other hand, is merely fuel for the blaze.

[(shan) Littlebookcove · Rating 5 out of 5]

For my Birthday I wanted to treat Myself to something... A bit more different. So the theme I came up with was Arctic Mystery's! Some of these case's Have really interested me for a while, the whole.. What? Why? How? I've just finished These so I’m going to review them all as one.
 
 
 
First up we have...
 
Mountain of the Dead: The Dyatlov Pass Incident by Keith McCloskey
 
The whole incident was a very very strange one. I liked this book it covered most of what happened as well as all the theories it was such a tragic and strange case as I was reading the autopsy cases the sense of unease was clearly felt it will always be a "what the hell happened to them" case. I personally think it could of being gas from the ground that made them go insane but how on earth did some of them loose there eyes and even one of the females there tongue??! it's so strange. This book covers all the aspects though.

The Terror By Dan Simmon's   
This is a book Based on the true Life Franklin Expedition. A tragic real life event, that happened in the 1840's. When I got my claws in to this I was stricken down with a cold, So it really did add to the atmosphere in this book. Dan makes an already tragic tale 10 times more frighting. I was drawn into this frozen world. Was a very awesome tale and Made me want to read more of Dan Simmon's book's in the future.
 
Frozen in Time. By Geiger, John, Beattie, Owen .
If you look up the “Franklin Expedition” Online. Your going to get some really strange pictures come up. These were the mummified crew of some of the Franklin Expedition. Over a hundred years more. Have to say it's not often a Book cover upsets me enough that I have to face ii down. On this case I had too No disrespect to John Torrington. But Way too scary! This gives real life fact's to the case Of why the crew's of the ship's perished, and other insights to what happened. Highly recommend read if you have read the Terror By Dan Simmon's .

The Lighthouse: The Mystery of the Eilean Mor Lighthouse Keepers. By Keith McCloskey.
Not going to lie on this. It's not really a mystery as such as to what happened in this case. As tragic as it was. I was a bit disappointed with this read, and felt the book dragged on a bit. However that said. I loved the history given on the isle. And the history given about the way's of Light house keeper's there Job's were very harsh.

Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident. By Donnie Eichar.
Very Very impressed with this one! The best book if your Interested in this mystery. Donnie Eichar uses survivor's stories, official documents, interviews, and his own experiences at the mountain to give an answer to a riddle that has spawned plenty of conspiracy theories Such as aliens, angry gnomes, irate tribesmen, escaped prisoners, secret military experiments and the like. All in all an excellent read.
 
 

[Marathon County Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dyatlov Pass Incident happened in February, 1959, in what was then the Soviet Union. Nine university students set out for a ski tourism trip and never returned. Their frozen, and in at least three cases seriously injured bodies, were found weeks later. Their tent was cut open from the inside. What could have cause these nine to flee out into the subfreezing Siberian night without shoes or clothes? The Soviet officials ruled the cause of death "an elemental force," and closed the area to tourism for three years.

Since then, many theories have surfaced regarding the nature of that "elemental force." Some have suggested natural events, such as an avalanche or bear attack, other suggest a military related accident, while still others suggest a more paranormal explanation, including the UFO's or yeti attack.

Keith McCloskey's carefully researched book describes the skiers, and their background. In several short background chapters, he describes what life was like in the Post-Stalin Soviet Union, as well as the state of world affairs. He then describes the search for the skiers, the autopsy findings and the official verdict given by Soviet officials. The most interesting part of the book describes and to a degree debunks some of the theories around the incident, including the possibility of a missile strike, an attack by either U.S. or Soviet Special Forces, attack by escaped Gulag prisoners or the possibility that a member of the group was a spy. He also covers theories of a more supernatural nature, including the possibility of UFOs (a theory believed by the head police official until his death), a yeti attack or Siberian Trolls. Probably the most fascinating chapter describes Yury Yakimov's eerie experience with what he calls a "light set," Yakimov's research into others who have witnessed these lights and is eventual reconstruction of what happened, that cold winter night high in the Ural Mountains. All of this is backed up with extensive analysis, English and Russian sources and several appendices of additional information.

While this will not be the last word on the fate of the Dyatlov Pass skiers, it certainly makes compelling reading. If you have an interest in life in Cold War Russia, winter sports or the paranormal, this is a fascinating look at an incident that will have people debating for years to come.

Julie K. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

[Taksya · Rating 3 out of 5]

L'ennesimo libro sul mistero del passo Dyatlov raggiunge le tre stelle solo perché racconta un po' dell'Unione Sovietica e dei vari disastri/complicazioni/fattacci del periodo in cui i ragazzi sono morti, per inquadrare meglio l'ambiente in cui si muovevano.
Non ci sono dettagli approfonditi della vicenda (come nei libri di Svetlana Oss o di Clark Wilkins) e, fortunatamente, per raccontare la sua escursione ha scritto un secondo libro (Journey to Dyatlov Pass: An Explanation of the Mystery) e non ha infilato tutto in un unico volume come Donnie Eichar. Però, nel resoconto della storia, ci sono informazioni che neppure nei siti dedicati all'incidente (dove è riportato o trascritto tutto quello che è disponibile e desecretato) compaiono.
La parte delle teorie, oltre ad elencare le solite più famose (valanga, incidente militare, yeti, U.F.O.), si incentra su un paio di storie decisamente assurde.
Una è la testimonianza di un mitomane, che dice di essere il solo sopravvissuto della spedizione e del quale, ovviamente, non c'è traccia.
L'altra è la teoria di Yury Yakimov, presente sul sito Dyatlov Pass (uno dei più curati e approfonditi) e quasi da nessun'altra parte.
Originale, ma convincente quasi quanto gli Yeti.
Nel complesso interessante dal punto di vista storico, ma nulla più. Se cercate un buon libro sull'incidente, rivolgetevi altrove.

[Mark A Simmons · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mountain of the Dead feels like two different books poorly welded together. The first half is excellent, giving a detailed and well researched account of the Dyatlov expedition of 1959, and then summarising and critiquing the various theories about its members deaths on Kholat Syakhl. But then McCloskey hits a wall, loses his way, and gives over the last third of his book to quoting two frankly ludicrous modern theories in depth ; Yury Yakimov's "Light Set", which sounds like a script rejected by the X-Files as being too far fetched, and Shimon Davidenko's demonstratively false claim in 2003 of being the "10th Tourist", a previously overlooked survivor of the expedition. These sections feel like padding gathered from the Internet. And that's it. Some short passages on the author's travels in the region and meetings with various people who knew the protagonists, which I would have liked to have heard more of, but little in conclusion. Strangely, one of the appendixes is the radiation report on the expedition member's clothing, which goes uncommented, but would have been relevant to his discussion of various unusual activities undertaken by the official investigation. It's almost as if McCloskey didn't want to sum up the case, or give his own theory based on the facts. A real lost opportunity. Finally, although early on he points out that Kholat Syakhl means "Dead Mountain" in Mansi (a place where nothing lives?) , he continually uses the misleading translation "Mountain of the Dead". I suppose the publisher felt that title would sell more books?

[Tweedledum · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are drawn to real life mysteries then this one has more than enough ingredients in it to keep you wondering long after the book is done. Better than any fiction but infinitely worse because it really happened, the explanation for the fates of the students who died in the "Dyatlov Pass Incident" seems unlikely to be resolved anytime soon and in all likelihood may never be. The extra -ordinary theories postulated almost all have serious evidence in their favour and perhaps some day some time further evidence will emerge. Keith McCloskey has brought together the complex facts and theories in a very intelligent and readable way and it is right and fitting that he ends with signposting interested readers to the memorials of 9 brave men and women.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first portions were interesting, but the constant discussion of the various theories of what happened became tiring and overly repetitive. The book really needed a bit of editing. It was disappointing to see that the author was apparently using Wikipedia (and not even correctly citing it to show the date that the page was accessed, etc.)

[Hot Mess Sommelière ~ Caro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. Well researched.

The Incident still doesn't make any sense and *something*, although we do not know what exactly, was covered up.

But even assuming a cover-up happened. Why was just one woman missing a tongue? It's just so random.

[Brandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This true story is intriguing, if you like never solved cases. A little too much history on the Cold War for me, but it was relevant.

[Book_ Hoarder66 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook

[Ami Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very dry writing, almost like reading a report. Wandered quite a bit and spent an entire two chapters on a first person narrative of the theory at the end of the book- I'm not sure why because it was just as strange and impossible as all the other theories. I did like hearing all the different theories- such a bizarre case.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before reading this book I had never heard of the Dyatlov Pass incident, I found it intriguing, what a mystery!
The set-up of the book reminded me of a thesis and it links to a lot of information on websites. (But with my theses I really couldn't link to a wikipedia page and control+C, control+V from webtexts wouldn't be accepted either... )
This book includes a collection of complot theories, some are quite iffy and detracts from the quality of the book.
In summary, I found the story about the Dyatlov Pass incident very interesting, but the way the book was composed was not that successful.

[M.G. Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who has heard of the Dyatlov Pass Incident? I had not long before buying this book some time in 2014. I was fascinated by the strange yet tragic events of the case enough to want to buy this book. Despite the author admitting that not much evidence exists due to the secretive nature of the events, he has tried to piece together the events and provide an overview of theories.

I am not going to provide my own theory as this is a book review. Needless to say, the events on the Mountain of the Dead that led to the death of 9 young Russians in Jan-Feb 1959 is as curious as it is tragic. They had gone to Siberia on a “ski tourist” trip, a Communist Party sanctioned trip to build teamwork, morale and fitness. They were slightly off course, probably due to weather conditions, but were highly trained and followed all the precautions. Quite why in the early hours of the 2nd February these nine people left most of their clothes and cut their way out of their tent (in temperatures around -20C) then split into two groups, moving in opposite directions (some barefoot) has never been satisfactorily explained. What is also not explained to complete satisfaction is how some of them died.

One woman was found without her tongue or the muscle that joins it to the mouth. Despite some later reports, it had not been “torn out” – the autopsy simply says it was “missing”.

One of the men had brain damage but no brain trauma. A third suffered trauma equivalent to that of being hit by a car in conditions completely unsuited to any vehicles. He may have fallen a long way onto some rocks, but other injuries are inconsistent with this as there were few skin abrasions. Most had “deeply tanned skin” – unusual for ethnic Russians at the best of times.

Anyway, this is a book review. The author is keen for you to understand that at the heart of the mystery is the death of nine people, most of whom died of hypothermia. We hear about their characters, background and personality. He does not want us to forget we are talking about people’s lives.

Also dotted through the book are references to the political situation between Russia and The West. Some of this is relevant as it pertains to how the investigation proceeded and the secret government testing that may have gone on nearby. Some of this feeds into the theories that come later in the book.

What is clear is that the investigation was so shoddy that had it been a modern crime scene, detectives would have lost their jobs. The crew were ill-equipped in one of the most remote areas of (then) Soviet Russia. Nevertheless, the anomalies continued to mount up and a picture began to form of what transpired in those hours between cutting their way out of the tent and their respective deaths. Why did those found nearly a mile away decide to light a fire and not attempt to return to camp? What startled them?

It’s divided into short chapters that stick with a single subject, making it easy to navigate for reference purposes later on. It really is a book designed for the ebook generation. Not a problem, this is welcome. It reads well. I was surprised how emotionally engaged I felt with these victims and the empathy I felt for their situation. Read about their journal entries and the photographs they took on the trip. Some of these photos are available on the internet and once again, this brings you closer to the events.

Chapters 6, 7 and 8 each cover theories about the events with chapter 8 presenting one of the kookiest (somebody else writes this chapter). This is not really in keeping with the rest of the book. Up to this point, the author had dealt only in facts. This “The Truth is Out There” conspiracy theory is too much of a leap.

[Nostalgiaplatz · Rating 4 out of 5]

L’incidente del passo Dyatlov è uno di quei casi in grado di causare orgasmi multipli a complottisti, appassionati di ufo e di creature leggendarie.
I fatti, bisogna ammetterlo, sono inquietanti: nell’inverno del 1959, nove universitari russi (anzi, otto+un veterano della seconda guerra mondiale), tutti escursionisti esperti, morirono misteriosamente sugli Urali. Squarciarono la loro tenda dall’interno e fuggirono, scarsamente vestiti e senza scarpe, con una temperatura di venti o trenta gradi sotto zero. Si fermarono a circa un chilometro e mezzo, raggiungendo degli alberi, e restarono lì per un po’. Cercarono di accendere un fuoco per scaldarsi, e anche di arrampicarsi su un albero, presumibilmente per controllare la situazione all’accampamento che avevano abbandonato. Morirono tutti, per ipotermia o per lesioni, alcuni sotto l’albero, altri in un rifugio che avevano cercato di scavare nella neve, altri ancora caddero mentre cercavano di fare ritorno alla tenda. Dalle autopsie risultarono, per alcuni, gravi fratture e lesioni alla cassa toracica, senza però che ci fossero segni esteriori; ad alcuni mancavano gli occhi, a una delle due donne del gruppo la lingua (e venne trovata una certa quantità di sangue nel suo stomaco, segno che l’asportazione doveva essere avvenuta mentre lei era ancora in vita). Che cosa poteva aver spinto nove giovani con grande esperienza di escursioni in luoghi estremi a fuggire danneggiando la loro tenda, pur di poter allontanarsi il più in fretta possibile? Cosa li aveva allarmati tanto da farli fuggire vestiti in modo così inadatto in un gelo polare? E cosa aveva causato le loro ferite? Questo libro presenta la storia di questi ragazzi e del loro viaggio, fa un sunto di quella che era la situazione mondiale ai tempi della guerra fredda, e presenta tutte le varie ipotesi che nel tempo sono state fatte, anche le più assurde, compresa quella dell’attacco di uno yeti ^^;; . Ci sono gli immancabili ufo, il timore di una valanga in arrivo, l’ipotesi che abbiano avuto la sfiga di trovarsi nel mezzo della sperimentazione di nuove armi, che siano stati attaccati da un gruppo di detenuti evasi da un gulag, che almeno uno di loro fosse un agente del KGB in incognito con una missione da portare al termine che è finita molto male, che siano morti altrove e trasportati lì per insabbiare la verità (il luogo in cui vennero ritrovati erano a una certa distanza dal percorso che avevano prestabilito per la loro escursione).
L'autore è molto razionale, e gni ipotesi (a parte la sciocchezza dello yeti) è presentata con serietà, evidenziando i fatti che potrebbero comprovarla o smentirla; per quel che riguarda l’ufficialità, i sovietici chiusero il caso limitandosi a dire che le morti erano state causate da "una irresistibile forza sconosciuta". L'accesso alla zona interessata venne vietato per tre anni.
Probabilmente questi poveracci si trovaronoin mezzo a qualcosa di simile a un esperimento militare, a un'esercitazione, e alla faccia dell’irresistibile forza sconosciuta, le autorità sovietiche dovevano aver capito benissimo cosa fosse successo. Resta comunque un caso inquietante e impressionante; guardare le foto di quei ragazzi sorridenti, ventenni che nella grigia e oppressiva Unione Sovietica trovavano un po’ di libertà nelle escursioni in montagna, e pensare all’angoscia che devono aver provato e alla morte che hanno fatto, è qualcosa che non lascia indifferenti.

[Mara Zeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging exploration into the mysterious, unexplained deaths of nine Russian students who were attempting to summit Mount Otorten (which translates as "Don't Go There" in the local Mansi tribe language) in northern Russia in the winter of 1959.

The author presents an in-depth investigation into the conclusions reached in the "official" report, offering his opinions on both its accuracy and its veracity. Additionally, he expounds on myriad alternative theories regarding what may have transpired that fateful February, ranging from the potentially plausible to the fantastically far-fetched in terms of the realm of possibility. It is clear from the level of detail introduced and number and range of sources cited that the author expended considerable time and effort researching the incident, no doubt a formidable task after the passage of more than fifty years.

The only thing I got a little frustrated with was the amount of time the author spent on one potential theory pertaining to the possible involvement of "extraterrestrial intervention" (my term, not his...oh, let's just call it what it is...UFOs!). This particular supposition took up FAR too much space, in my opinion, and I actually ended up skimming parts of it to give myself a good overview of the whole section, rather than reading it word for word. I just completely lost patience with it, since while interesting, it seemed to me to be one of the far less likely scenarios in terms of plausibility. The individual relating the theory certainly took pains to lay it all out in a reasonable and rational manner, and I am not suggesting that he wasn't credible since he himself clearly believed everything he said. But taking into account that there was nothing available to back-up his story other than his own single eyewitness account, considering the nature of the theory, I felt it could have been examined satisfactorily without the level of painstaking detail it contained.

That being said, however, I enjoyed this book overall enough to read it all the way through in one sitting, and I would definitely recommend it to others. There are other sources available on this "unsolved mystery", but I found this to be one of the best, if not THE best, out there. Kudos to Mr. McCloskey, who just came out with a new book in July 2014, which I am definitely looking forward to reading!

[Graceann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I came to this book knowing nothing about the Dyatlov Pass Incident. I stumbled on a synopsis of the book and story in a book review guide and was fascinated by it. Nine experienced, strong young skiers set out on a demanding but eminently doable trip and wind up dead, with precious few clues as to what might have happened to them.

McCloskey does an interesting timeline of the days leading up to their deaths, using their own photographs and diaries found on the scene when their bodies were discovered. He then posits several credible (and not so much) theories as to what might have happened to them.

Then, in Chapter 8, he hands the book over to someone with his own aluminum-hatted theory, complete with rendering of the final hours of the skiers' lives. Utter nonsense and a waste of paper. And finally, another person is allowed to jump in, claiming that he was the unknown tenth skier, and was present during all that happened, but escaped. Of course, most of the "facts" he presents are completely wrong, right down to what sorts of equipment the party had. What a waste.

I was immensely frustrated and annoyed by this book when I got to the end of it. That will complete the spoiler-free portion of this review, so stop reading here if you don't want to know how it ends.

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After all of the theories, stories and research, the author comes to absolutely no conclusion as to what happened to the Dyatlov party. None. He doesn't even offer his own thoughts on the matter, which would have been welcome given that he'd spent all the time with the research, and must have formed some ideas of his own. We'll probably never know for sure, of course, but what's his guess? I understand there was another book, very similarly named, on this story released about the same time, and I further understand that some conclusions are actually drawn. That would be welcome.

[Mfonido Ukpabio · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first came across this story on a YouTube video that listed 10 unsolved real life mysteries. I decided to purchase this book and hopefully get some insight on what really happened.


Keith McCloskey wrote really well. He tries to make you understand the times this incident occurred. He paints the political tensions in the USSR at that time and gives a lot of detail.

From all the theories proposed as to why 8 skiers died mysteriously, I can draw one major thing. There's a lot of cover up by the KGB. This leads to falsified or inaccurate documents. Now what's the purpose of covering something up if you have no involvement in it ? We might never know what happened to them. I can only imagine the terror they went through that night. Especially for Lina who lost her tongue, 5 broken ribs and a few liters of her blood found in her stomach.

Nothing is hidden under the sun and one day we will know the truth. I recommend this book for anyone looking into this case.

I also bought 'Dead mountain' by Donnie Eichar. I'm hoping to find some things Keith might have left out and also get a different perspective as to what happened. May their souls rest in peace.

[Dunkthebiscuit Kendrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very methodical overview of this mystery.

In early 1959, in the communist USSR, ten young people set out on a ski-hike into the Ural mountains. One turned back due to illness, but the other nine were later found dead near their tent. Some apparently suffered strange injuries, others appeared to have died of hypothermia. They had seemingly left their tent in such a hurry, through a slash in the side furthest from the door, that they hadn't even had time to grab their outdoor clothing.

There have been many logical, illogical and outright bizarre theories about what happened. This book lists them all, without judgement and without coming down in favour of any one of them. The kindle edition at least, cites the sources used for each chapter at the end of that chapter. For anyone looking for a fundamentally unbiased overview of what is known and what is hypothesised about this tragedy, this book is a good place to start.