Alekseenkov's version

Karelin and Alekseenkov in Ekaterinburg - July 30, 2023

The group climbed up. It's time to settle for the night. And the wind will be stronger higher (and the tent is not suitable for this). (Time of day 17 - 18 hours).

The tent is on a gentle slope. It blows from the ridge, but not much. Otherwise, they wouldn't stayed here. Ate. All fit. Big plans for tomorrow - they need to sleep. Thibeaux-Brignolle goes outside. Stands... Looks into the valley... Turns... A flash occurs over the ridge, the scale of which is growing catastrophically. The approach of the phenomenon carries (without a doubt!) mortal danger. (Time of day 20 - 23 hours).

The guys ran for their life! The surroundings are illuminated by a powerful flash. After 15-20 minutes, nine half-dressed, frightened people found themselves under a cedar on the border of the forest, 1.5 km from the tent. Frost below 20 degrees. (15-20 min).

Stop (they couldn't run forever). Take breath. Further deep snow. Where to run? Stop! And from what, if the threat clearly does not hang over them? The flash fades. The first peak of stress has passed. Making sense. Share opinions. Decision-making. (10-15 min).

Decided to make a fire. It is necessary to warm the legs and hands. Some break wood, carry, trample the place. Zolotaryov, covering from the wind, calms and warms Dubinina, who huddles in him. She is poorly dressed (especially her legs). They start a fire. It is clear that there are few lower branches. They help Thibeaux-Brignolle to climb the cedar. He is shod, well dressed, his hands are not so stiff. He succeeds! Dry branches fly down, they are picked up, dragged to the fire. This is already something! They need to break as much as they can. One more branch. Fatal! Zolotaryov only had time to crack and scream, bending over and throwing his head up. He could not take a step back, as Dubinina stood on his feet, warming her stiff feet. Therefore, jerking back, he began to fall on his back (in an embrace with Dubinina).

From a height of 5 meters, Thibeaux-Brignolle fell on Dubinina and flattened her chest (fracture of 4 ribs on the right and 6 ribs on the left). Zolotaryov was "lucky" - only half of his ribs were broken (5 on the right). Thibeaux-Brignolle himself hit his head on the frozen ground: a head injury. And the broken bough, clutched in Thibeaux-Brignolle's hand, hit Slobodin on the head: a head injury. An accident and four half-dead people lie under a cedar. A second ago, everyone was safe and sound! (15-20 min).

Five are out. Attempts to find out the status. They dragged them to the fire. Dubinina, Slobodin, Thibeaux-Brignolle - unconscious. Zolotaryov with signs of life. Discussion about injuries, about what to do. And .. oh, a miracle: Slobodin regains consciousness. They make sure he is fine. (10-15 min).

It is decided Krivonischenko and Doroshenko to watch the fire (thick branches are only for the two of them, their hands get stiff, their strength is fading away), the rest go down into the ravine, find a suitable place (without wind), arrange a bed of spruce branches (the "den") and return for the victims. Lying in the snow, they can't warm up in the wind. (20-25 min).

Kolmagorova and Slobodin remained in the "den" (the girl does not have the strength to carry it, it is better for Slobodin not to strain after the injury, and most importantly, he needs to start a fire near the "den"). Dyatlov and Kolevatov go back to the Cedar and together with Doroshenko and Krivonischenko drag Dubinina, Thibeaux-Brignolle and Zolotaryov to the "den". (35-40 min).

And what about the fire? 25-30 minutes have already passed, as Slobodin and Kolmogorova are fighting to start it, but to no avail. This is useless! Krivonischenko and Doroshenko go back to the fire under the Cedar and drag the burning logs with their bare hands. Nobody ask them to do this. They make the first walk together: "Well! Once! Two! We can do it!" It becomes routine. They need to move everything quickly. They run like clockwork. You can't fall! Third, fifth, seventh run. Strength is running out. The guys below are earthing up the fire (with snow, not on the ground), gathering everything around. Yuri once again went up to the Cedar and sat down over the fire: "This can’t be carried away. I am done!" The second Yuri went up in just ten minutes and rushed to wake up his friend. To no avail! Drag him down! No matter how but drag down! However, you can’t command your hands, he had no strength left... (30-40 minutes).

"Where are the guys?" - the men rushed to the fire. Yuri lay nearby. They were the fittest in the group and gave all they had as best they could. They did not freeze - they were poisoned, having inhaled most of all the muck that fell out of the outbreak zone (the fact of foaming from Doroshenko's mouth was recorded in the forensic report). And the wind only blew the remnants of life out of them ... The men took (cut off) their clothes, picked up the remaining broken branches, and returned to the "den". (10-15 min).

Time from leaving the tent: 2h 25min - 3h 10min +10% = 2h 40min - 3h 30min
Time of day: 22.25 - 02.10 = 22.40 - 02.30.

Thus, all the described active (physically) actions of the group lasted for a minimum of two and a half, a maximum of three and a half hours. The injured were evacuated to the "den", but the situation only worsened. The death of two strong participants either raised the question - why they died, or led to the realization that the outbreak is accompanied by destructive factors. There was something to think about ... Events continued to develop. At some point, Lyuda Dubinina died from injuries. Then Nikolay Thibeaux-Brignolle (maybe first Nikolay, then Lyuda - it doesn't change anything). Their bodies were carried a little to the side. Something had to be done. Key points:

tent is the salvation!
an attempt to return may result in freezing (poisoning)
it is impossible for everyone to leave together (Zolotaryov), therefore, it is necessary to split
how - ?
Dyatlov offers to increase the chances. First, one will go (naturally - he, without options). If he doesn’t return after the control time, another two come up (or three if Zolotaryov dies). What the survivor does with the victim, I think, was not discussed. It was only possible to refuse rescue attempts.

The control time was determined at three hours (two there, one hour back). They said goodbye, wished... Igor Dyatlov overcame 350 - 400 meters. The clock on his wrist stopped at 5.30.

The rest (Kolmogorova, Slobodin, Kolevatov, Zolotaryov) had to wait.

During these three hours, not only Dyatlov died. Semyon Zolotaryov died (from injury) and... Sasha Kolevatov (maybe even earlier than Zolotaryov). Kolevatov and Dyatlov did their best physically (respectively, they inhaled in the poison), saving the injured. With this in mind, it was their turn after the two Yuri. The bodies of Kolevatov and Zolotaryov were laid next to Dubinina and Thibeaux-Brignolle.

After the control time, Zina Kolmogorova and Rustik Slobodin left. They did not stop when they saw the frozen Igor. Rustic crawled 600 meters up the slope, falling asleep. The clock on his wrist stopped at 8.40...

Zina crawled further... (an episode can be mentioned: in one of the previous treks, Zina was bitten by a poisonous snake - her body survived, the forester applied serum to the wounds) She was discovered closest to the tent...

This story is about the mighty spirit of nine people. Nine Humans, one by one, due to the circumstances, gave their lives, saving each other.

Shura sent me these links with his comments:

The most relevant video is posted on YouTube palylist "Dyatlov Pass"

The descent from the tent to the stream in socks is divided into two parts:
Dyatlov Pass, February 2014 - part 1/5
Dyatlov Pass, February 2014 - part 2/5
I was not filming the passage from the mouth of the first stream to the cedar, because I was afraid to drop the camera in the snow - there is no wind crust in this area in February and I was knee deep in the snow. I filmed only a small fragment when I crossed the ravine of the first stream at the place of the "den". This is at the beginning of the third video which shows the ascent to the tent:
Dyatlov Pass, February 2014 - part 3/5
The ascent was also filmed in fragments, as I was afraid that the battery in the camera would run out.

In this topic on "Taina" there are links to the most relevant materials:
From my bell tower (summing up)
I summed up these results long time ago - it would be necessary to state the current ideas))

References to more recent materials were given in my reports on expeditions for a particular year. These reports are posted on "Pereval1959" in the section Expeditions.