Interview: Intense press coverage prompts new expeditions to Dyatlov Pass

The Dyatlov Pass Incident is a mystery that still reverberates through the scientific community and divides public opinion. In January 1959, a ten-member group consisting mostly of students from the Ural Polytechnic Institute, led by 23-year-old Igor Dyatlov, set off on a 14-day expedition to the Gora Otorten mountain in western Siberia amid extremely challenging weather conditions. The expedition met a tragic end: nine members of the group were found dead several days later, many with fractured bones and other severe wounds. The incident spawned a number of far-fetched theories, from murderous Yeti and foul-play by the KGB to secret military experiments. These theories were further fueled by the Soviet authorities who, after the briefest of investigations, attributed the deaths to a "compelling natural force." Of the ten hikers, only Yuri Yudin, who turned back after falling sick on the second day of the expedition, survived.