1 February 1959

On February 1 the group started out late, covered 2 km only and pitched a tent on the open ridge for a "cold" overnight i.e. without firewood.

Dyatlov group had to prepare a note for the ascent to Mt Otorten, but instead they write on Evening Otorten №1, the satirical propaganda leaflet.

The hoax

In Discovery "Russian Yeti: The killer lives" Libecki quotes a cryptic passage written in a newspaper the students brought with them “From now on we know that the snowmen exist”.
Numerous sites plain misquote Evening Otorten №1 paragraph. Here is an example:
In the trek “newspaper”, where they typically “reported” humorous events, was this: “From now on we know the Snowmen exist. They can be found in the Northern Ural, next to Mt Otorten”.

The reality
The only written piece where snowman (or Yeti) is mentioned is in Evening Otorten №1, the satirical propaganda leaflet Dyatlov Group put together at the night of the incident. The case file does not contain a photo of this flyer, only a transcript of its content. You might think that researchers would want to consult the original document in order to independently authenticate such an apparently important clue, but they do not.

We have to guess what their plans were.

They were carrying the stove and even though they did not used it that night it means that they were planning on using it at least once before their return back to the labaz.
They pitched the tent on the ridge although they had the time to go down to Lozva river. The only reason to do that is to continue in the morning on high grounds towards Otorten, where it is easier to ski on firm snow.

The conclusion is that they planned to have more "warm" overnight on February 2 at lake Lunthusaptur (Лунтхусаптур) under Mt Otorten where the source of Lozva starts. They must have planned to make the note for the ascent then.

On the morning of February 3 make an ascent to Mt Otorten, and replace the note that was there with their own. Then they pack their tent and start their way back.

They spend another "cold" overnight on February 3 on Kholat Syakhl.

On February 4 the group was supposed to go back to their labaz on Auspiya river.

From the campsite on February 1 to Mt Otorten is about 18 km. Taking into account the return journey, that makes 36 km. The group planned to leave on February 1 and return on February 4 to the labaz, the group had to take products for 3 days.
The upcoming route was r. Auspiya - lake Lunthusaptur - Mt Otorten - r. Auspiya. They started late on February 1 because they waited for the weather to clear out. They wrote Evening Otorten №1, built a storage (labaz), gather firewood for the return back. Then after lunch, Dyatlov took the risk and lead the group up the the mountain Kholat Syakhl.

Dyatlov Pass is not where the group was headed (look at the map). The pass is the place to go over Kholat Syakhl if you are going to come down. Some people speculate that Dyatlov got lost and didn't find the pass. This is not true. The group didn't intend to go though the pass. They wanted to gain altitude and stay on the ridge for a "cold" overnight i.e. without firewood. They went 2 km and about 3 pm setup a camp site - see the photos below.

On February 2 the group was supposed to cover 14 - 14.5 km on a firm snow, reach lake Lunthusaptur and to have a "warm" overnight. That's way they took the stove with them and was found in the tent, not used on the tragic night of February 1.

What happened on the night of February 1959 will haunt us till this day.

We have our own theory of how the tragedy went down published in "1079 - The overwhelming force of Dyatlov Pass".