Expedition 2-12- July, 2025
24-07-2025
I'm happy to report that the expedition was a success in terms of goal achievement, and I'm starting to upload photos from it. Behind the scenes there are a lot of discussions going on about what we found and brought back from the pass. This includes tin cans, tin foil, rope, cartridges, tree cross section... The delay is not a result of procrastination, but my wish to spare you the anxiety of what it is in the photos. First, I want to confirm for myself. Samples have been submitted to Private Forensic Laboratory "Premium Expert" and Prof. Momchil Panayotov from the Dendrology Department of the University of Forestry, Sofia, Bulgaria. Please bear with me, especially since the Dendrology expert requested more reference samples from the birch trees in the area and Aleksander Konstantinov, who is going to the pass in August said that he will try to bring back some, and then I need to get them in the mail and submit for analysis. Every time you feel impatient remember this is a 66 years old cold case and that we are only now trying to analyze samples from the site where the bodies were found. The problem now is not only how deep the 1959 items are buried, but how much modern junk is on top of them.
Yekaterinburg
The cemeteries
The three tags you see on the photos are for my top supporters. I promised to take their tokens to the Dyatlov Pass. They gave me the words to put on the tags. I thought they will give me their names but each of them, independently, gave me words that describe the lives lost. In the notebook are the names of the members of my group headed to the pass in couple of days. The idea is that they wanted to pay their respects to the graves but they didn't have the time, we were gathering on the train station and headed to Ivdel the same day. My flights was a couple of days earlier so I cane meet with some friends and comrades in Yekaterinburg, so I did the trip to both Mihaylovskoe and Ivannovskoe cemeteries on behalf of the whole team. Kolevatov's photo fell, not as a result of a vandalism. Aleksey Koskin from the Dyatlov group foundation has it, it just fell. Then Koskin had to be admitted in a hospital for a planned surgery. It will soon be replaced. The poem above Yuri Yudin's photo was torn down, presumed vandalism.
Ganina Yama
Visiting this holy place with Ayna, my friend painter, who goes to the Dyatlov Pass every year to recharge. I also brought with me the list of our group. Ayna will go to the pass in August, with a second group. The Romanov family were murdered in the Ipatiev's house. Then their bodies were dumped in Ganina Yama, only to be moved again to another location nearby called Romanov's Memorial. The Ipatiev's house doesn't exists anymore, it was demolished in 1977. After the Romanov's were canonized in 2000 the Church on Blood was built on its place, and the altar stands over the execution site. At the moment the bodies are buried at Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg.
Dom knigi
Today our store at Anton Valek, 12 was visited by Teodora Hadjiyska, author of the book "1079: The Overwhelming Force of Dyatlov Pass"!
The researcher arrived from Austria and dropped by the House of Books before her sixth expedition to the site of the mysterious death of the Dyatlov group.
Teodora signed her book and shared details of the mysterious story.
Source: https://vk.com/domknigiekaterinburg?w=wall-33375717_28661
Yekaterinburg-Passazhirskiy
Every expedition to the Dyatlov Pass starts on a overnight (19:23-8:02) train from Yekaterinburg to Ivdel. Most of the participants met for the first time. Two last minute additions from Moscow turn out to be very suspicious. Their names were different, equipment, manners, not your usual hiker. We named them KGB from the start. At the station we were closely monitored not to take videos and there was always someone watching.
Ivdel - Vizhay - Ushminka River - Izba v Kedrovnike
First encounter with the mosquitos and flooded roads. The enchanted forest with moss called Witch's hair (ведьмины волосы) and fungus – Witch's butter aka Yellow brain. The bearded "veil" on conifers (fir, spruce) is the so-called usnea lichen, or "witch's hair". They are less common on birches. As explained by the Ministry of Ecology of the Moscow Region, the presence of such "fringe" indicates that the air around is being purified. "These lichens are considered indicators of air purity. Where they grow, the air is the cleanest," the experts assure. By the way, "witch's hair" is used in modern pharmacology: antibiotics based on usnic acid, which has excellent antiseptic properties, are produced from them. So this "potion" is useful in every sense.
Bear country
Our group split into two. The more ambitious ones had plans to go to Otorten, so they pushed forward. Bears are roaming the forests of the Northern Urals. We constantly noticed their fresh tracks. What startled us was that we saw bear tracks on top of the tracks left by our friends. This meant that between them and us, the bears were walking along the road, stepping into the bushes when we approached, and watching us. But the exhaustion from dragging the heavy backpacks and some vodka made us fall asleep like a stone. And the weirdest realization - the sun never sets down in July in the Northern Urals. The nights are white. The last four photos from this sequence are taken in the dead of night. One essential piece of equipment, the headlight, turned out to be obsolete.
Dyatlov Pass
Each of the members of our group was carrying one tangerine for the Dyatlov group. The Otorten group didn't stop to place theirs so initially only 6 tangerines were photographed and they were gone the next day. I was explained that in the orthodox tradition the food on the graves is an offering for forgiveness that the visitors to the memorials can help themselves to. So it is ok that they disappeared, this is not disrespectful. Bikers and ATVs were swarming the Dyatlov Pass. The sky was foreboding. The tokens and Gates Nation's commemorative plate are hidden in the outlier. They are your connection to the Dyatlov Pass.
Happy 90th anniversary Tibo
On July 4th, 2025, we erected this sign at the site of the tent where presumably Thibeaux-Brignolle took his last breath. The sign was prepared and brought to the pass by Oleg Taymen to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Nikolay Thibeaux-Brignolle, the "joker" of the Dyatlov group. Note the date - July 4th. This is not a mistake. In the city of Osinniki, Thibeaux-Brignolle's birth is listed in medical archives as July 4th. Oleg Taymen found out through a friend who works for the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The explanation is that after the birth of a child, it is necessary to register it immediately, and it is not always easy to go to the city after giving birth, especially without a car. But the mother had complications, and the hospital recorded the real date of birth, and not the one that the mother later gave at the registry office. According to Oleg, even Nikolay might not have known his real date of birth. In his personal file Nikolay wrote by hand July 5th as his date of birth. In his HR records the date is June 5th.
Otorten
The final destination of the Dyatlov group that they didn't live to see. On July 8, 2025, Natalya Syryaykina, Alexander (Sasha) Krasheninnikov, Evgeniy (Zhenya) Nefyodov, Vlad Gusev, Pavel Zorin and Georgiy (Gary) Kudryash ascended to Otorten 1182, spending a night in the modules. They planned to go down to Lunthusaptur (Goose nest lake) 855 but the weather was bad and they decided to take shelter in the modules.
Отортэн is the distorted name of Вот-Тар-тан-Сяхыл (Mt Vot-Tar-tan-Syakhyl) meaning "The Windy Mountain", which is located several kilometers to the north and is inferior to Mt Otorten in height. Mansi call it Лунт-Хусап (Lunt-Khusap) meaning "Goose Nest" or Лунт-Хусап-Сяхыл (Lunt-Khusap-Syakhyl) meaning "Goose Nest Mountain". There is a Mansi legend that after the global flood, one goose survived on the peak of this mountain.
Zhenya's dream came true - to touch with his both hands the two pillars of the Otorten portal. This way he closed the circle of the worlds. Not everyone can do this, Zhenya is tall with very long hands. God bless everyone to be able to fulfill his dream. And God forbid if this is not yours to happen.
Thinking of the Dyatlov group, there is still a nagging question - how can we be sure they didn't reach Otorten? On February 27, 1959 Akselrod's group found on Otorten a note from Jul 26, 1956, left by the Gudkov hiking group from the Faculty of Chemistry, Moscow State University. It is considered that if Dyatlov reached Otorten they would have taken this note and left theirs. But how can one be sure where to search for a note?
The camp
We set up camp close to the creek where the bodies were found in 1959. From here, we were going to Kholat Syakhl, other peaks in the area, the tent location, Otorten, and to the Cedar. It rained every day, but not heavy rain. The Russians have a word for heavy rain, "ливня", and what we had was not it. It didn't rain as much as the previous year, August 2024. The mosquitoes were merciless. We had to envelop ourselves in smoke at all times to repel them. I still smell the campfire on some of my clothes and gear.
The Cedar
The area of the Cedar was my main point of interest this year. Many asked me how come the cedar fell in the winter when the ground is frozen. I am showing that the roots of the fallen cedar are still in the ground, and it broke where it was sticking out from the ground because of the wind and snow, but mainly because it was old and rotten inside. The needle rust on the Cedar is a fungal disease. We dug up cartridges, rope, tin cans and tin foil. I will get into details for each of our findings in my following publications. The analysis of the tree cores is expected to be available by the end of August 2025. The additional samples are supposed to be brought by the next expedition which will arrive at Yekaterinburg on August 9.
Saying our goodbyes
I learned that fir trees have very shallow root systems and they easily tip over from the wind and snow, even in winter when the ground is frozen. Also you will see a random cedar that had his lower branches broken and cut exactly like the Cedar.
In my following publications this week, I will tell you what we dug up from under the Cedar. We already know what some of the items are and who left them, but my most important findings, the ones that will determine the direction of my future research, will take some time, for several reasons, which I will explain next week. I am delaying to tell what I am working on because there is currently a second expedition that I have asked to bring me some samples that I was unable to obtain. They will be back in Yekaterinburg on August 9.
To Be Continued...
