Organization of the search
14-01-2018
Organization of the Search
Return date of Dyatlov group, registered in Sverdlovsk, was 12.02.59.
When Yudin decided to go back due to illness, Dyatlov asked him to relate (without specifying exactly to whom) that the control date is postponed to 15.02.59.
On the postponement of the deadline Yudin reported privately to a certain UPI student, in particular member of Blinov bureau.
12.02, when the deadline expired, the GK did not know about the delay to 15.02, and the sports club UPI did not have any deadlines at all because the group took the documentation with them. Until 16.02, no one was concerned about Dyatlov group.
16.02 Blinov rang to GK FK and sports club and understood that there is no telegram from Dyatlov group.
17.02 rang again
18.02 GK FK and sports club called Vinsay (Vizhay, red)
19.02 – received an answer that Dyatlov group hasn't turned up.
20.02 – it was decided to send to Ivdel Blinov and the chairman of the UPI sports club comrade Gordo.
21.02 they flew to Ivdel with a special flight and began circling above the hiking area.
22.02. In the UPI sports club headquarters headed by Slobodin was organized and immediate rescuers operation began. The staff set a round-the-clock watch. Group of hikers headed by Slobotsov left for Ivdel.
23.02.This group was dropped by a helicopter on the east crest of Mt. Otorten.
24.02.A group of Kurikov Mansi(from Suyevat Paul) and Bakhtiyarov (from Vizhay? region) joined the search as well as a Komi group got ready to accost the western slopes of the ridge.
25.02. In the area of Oykachakhl, a group of hikers was dropped under the leadership of Grebennik and another group of hikers was prepared to go under the orders of Karelin for a landing in the area of Sampalchakhl.
26.02. A group of operatives of the Ivdel Camp, led by Captain Chernyshev, was dropped on the ridge to survey the Auspiya-Purma and Purma-Visher passes.
Thus, rescue groups were positioned at the main points of the route and apart from that they were searching in parallel to the ridge.
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24-26.02. Slobtsov group explored the adjacent to Otorten peak and surveyed the higher sources of Lozva river. At the same time, a group of hikers led by Akselrod was flown to Otorten with a view to examining the massif of the mountain and the pass.
From the upper Lozva river Slobtsov group reached the Auspiya valley and on 26.02. found Dyatlov group tent on the slope of the eastern ridge of Peak 1079. There was nobody from the people in the tent.
27.02. All groups from the remaining areas were transferred on the pass between the Peaks 880 1079, and a base camp for searches parties was set up below the forest boundary.
In total the camp consisted of:
| Slobtsov group | - 5 people |
| Karelin group | - 5 people |
| Akselrod group | - 5 people |
| Captain Chernyshev group | - 5 people |
| Mansi Stepan Kurikov group | - 4 people |
| group of operatives with specially trained dogs | |
| leaded by Sr Lt Moiseev | - 2 people |
| radio operator of the North-Ural expedition G. Nevolin | |
Later arrived:
group of Master of Sports from Moscow Bardin, Baskin and Shuleshko and with them Korolyov (Sverdlovsk).
group of cadets of the sergeant school of Ivdellag under the orders of the Sr Lt Potapov - 10 people.
group of sappers with mine detectors under the orders of Lieutenant Colonel Shestopalov - 7 people.
Ahead of all of the groups was the master of sports E. N. Maslennikov, captain A. Chernyshev became the deputy.
All the rescuers involved, taking into account the transfer of people between the Ivdel camps - about 30-35 people.
Initially, the search was conducted in the most probable direction of finding the missing hikers.
27.02 in the valley of the 4th right tributary of Lozva in 1500 m Slobtsov group found the bodies of Doroshenko and Krivonischenko. The deceased were near a makeshift fire under a large cedar 1500 m from the tent.
Further, the joined groups of Slobtsov and Kurikov found
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300 m up the valley the body of Dyatlov.
And in the evening of that day the rescue dogs found the body of Kolmogorova on a slope 850 m from the tent.
28.02.- 02.03 was conducted thorough survey of Peaks 1079 and 880, the valley of the fourth tributary of the Lozva and its limiting spurs, and the pass from Lozva to Auspiya valley of Lozva.
02 03 - a group (Slobtsov and Kurikov) was singled out to look for the storage site (labaz, red), which Dyatlov group was supposed to build. The labaz was found only 300 m from the base camp in the forest, 100 m from the bank of Auspiya.
At that time criminalist from Sverdlovsk Prosecutor's Office L. N. Ivanov and the Ivdel Prosecutor visited the scene.
The bodies and the tent were sent to Ivdel.
On 08 03.59 the search team has switched to systematic probing the site of the disaster.
The probing was carried out with 1.5 m long metal rods. The insertion was made either to the ground, or, with deep snow for the entire length of the probe. People were inserting the probes in an interval of 1 m. There were 6-8 probings per square meter of area.
Working under a lot of stress on a dense turf, people did about 10,000 probes a day each.
In this manner was processed an area of approximately 30,000 square meters. Suspicious places were passed 2 and 3 times (see scheme).
05.03.59 Slobodin's body was found during probing.
Till 08.03.59 the entire area of the possible location of the corpses was investigated, but the remaining members of the Dyatlov group were not found.
By this time, the search operation was headed by the special commission of the Sverdlovsk Regional Committee of the CPSU, headed by Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee Pavlov and Deputy Chairman of the CPSU Regional Committee, T. Ermash.
08.03.59 Maslennikov, and with him Bardin and Vaskin flew to Ivdel to report to the Commission.
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With a detailed presentation of the search and its results, comrade Maslennikov conveyed the unanimous opinion of the entire search party that the operation should be temporarily rescheduled until April, in order to wait for the snow goes down.
The Commission decided that the search should continue, but the members of the search party should be completely replaced due to the difficult conditions of work.
At the present, a group of alpinists from the UPI led by comrade Kikoin flew to the search site. The search continues.
In conclusion, it is necessary to note the extremely difficult search conditions: strong winds constantly blow on the investigated slopes and along the valley, usually at a speed of 15-20 m/s, often reaching up to 36 m/s and more (according to weather service). People can barely overcome the power of the wind. If it snows a storm starts, in which visibility is reduced to 3-5 m. Storms are frequent here in the last days of February and early March. For example from March 5, the weather is sunny, the snowstorm are only at the basis of the snow being drifted, but ice crust started to form on the entire surface of the slopes and causing frequent falls. On March 9, Soloviev soldier from Potapov group fell and his trauma doesn't allow him to move.
Further work on this site is only possible with climbing equipment.
Members of the routing and qualification commission
Presidium of the All-Union Section of Tourism
/K. Bardin/
/Е. Shuleshko/
Acknowledged
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