The sole survivor from Dyatlov Pass

Sick Yuri Yudin embraces Lyudmila Dubinina goodbye.
They will never see each other again.

It is unlikely that today the name of Yuri Yudin, the former deputy head of Solikamsk for economics, would have been so widely discussed outside the Urals if it were not for the tragedy that took place on February 2, 1959 with a group of hikers led by Igor Dyatlov on the pass at Kholat Syakhl.

Yuri Yudin

As is known, sixty years ago, the mutilated bodies of young climbers were found there. All nine. In addition to one survivor - Yuri Yudin. As a student of the Urals Polytechnic Institute, he made it in the group of ten, who went on this ill fated trip.

What was it - an accident or a planned military operation, and what is the role of a Solikamsk official in it?

Citing "Komsomolskaya Pravda" from April 29, 2013, in which it was reported about the death of the tenth (survivor) member of Dyatlov group, Yuri Yudin until the end of days kept a fluffy toy - a teddy bear,  gift from Lyudmila Dubinina. She gave him this toy shortly before her death.

Luda’s life was cut short on the same pass where a few days before they planned to go along with Yura. She was the youngest of the group - only 20 years old. When they found her lifeless body, the girl had 10 broken ribs.

Until the end of his days, the surviving member of Dyatlov group Yuri Yudin reproached himself that he didn't save Lyudochka. He never married, and this started the famous romantic legend. Was it true or not we will never know.

Yuri Yefimovich himself always denied a love relationship with Lyuda:

— There was nothing like that between us. We were all good friends, and nothing else! At that time, the relationship between young people was completely different than now. We slept side by side in the same tent and under the same blanket, but there was nothing intimate.

However, shortly before her mysterious death, Lyudmila made the following entry in her diary:

Frame from the feature film "The Secret of the Mountain of the Dead" 2013

In this very film, Yuri Yudin says:

Yudin holding the mascot Lyuda gave him

Today, the teddy bear is kept in the Dyatlov Foundation (Kuntsevich residence). Photo

Until the end of his days, the surviving member of Dyatlov group from Solikamsk was tormented by guilt not only because of the death of the girl, but also of the other eight comrades.

— Then he used to live all his life, came every year on February 2 to Yekaterinburg at the cemetery and was saying to his friends with tears in his eyes: “I should have been with you,” recalled Sergey Sogrin, one of the rescuers who took part in the search for the group in 1959.

Maybe things could have been different had he continued, maybe they could have lived?

Yuri Yefimovich repeatedly told journalists and documentalists how he set off under the leadership of Igor Dyatlov on that same fatal trek to the Mountain of the Dead.

Yudin explained: already in route, his sciatic nerve inflamed. The pain was unbearable, I had to go home.

— When we drove in the back of the truck there was a strong draft, he explained hurriedly. - I have radiculitis from a young age... At first I thought that this was temporary, it would pass, this happened to me many times. One time when we went with Dyatlov Altay the doctor wrote a referral to me there, and where I could get help from first-aid posts on the trip. They wrote that I had "erythema", it was summer, I could warm my leg and lower back in the sun. But then in the back of the truck we had no cover, the wind was blowing on us, I reached 2nd Northern, and then it got even worse... What else can I say... I hoped that it would pass...

By the way, Yuri Yudin didn't believe that the cause of the death of his friends was a natural disaster, in particular an avalanche. He adhered to the theory that they were victims of tests of super-powerful weapons, after all, not so far from the pass, now called after the leader of the group was a military testing ground.

Meanwhile, theories have been piling up around the name of Yuri Yefimovich one after another, which even today can be found in the forums dedicated to the Dyatlov Pass case. Say, Yuri Yudin personally from the special services learned about the danger threatening his hiking group and cowardly chose to run away, but the guys went to perform an important military mission. One can imagine the acute sense of guilt that has poisoned him the next half century of life.

Another theory: Yudin knew more than he told reporters, since he was made by the Federal Security Service sign non disclosure for military secrets. Yudin gave food for such rumors himself. He moved to Solikamsk and kept silent about being the tenth sole survivor in the ill-fated Dyatlov group.

A year after the tragic events, Yuri Yefimovich graduated from the engineering and economics department of the Ural Polytechnic Institute. He was sent to Solikamsk to work at a local magnesium plant, and he stayed in this city after his term was up. This was for the good of the local residents.

According to the recollections of people who knew him, Yudin was the soul of the company, cheerful, resourceful, energetic.

Very quickly around this charismatic person, with passion for hiking, rallied a circle of young people who grew up over time in the hiking club "Polyus". Yuri Yudin was his indisputable leader until the end of his days .

Valentina Vezner, a resident of Solikamsk, recalled Yuri with nostalgia:
— He actively participated not only in the work of our club, but also closely contacted both the society for the protection of nature and the society for preservation of architectural monuments. We, the hikers, watched over the cultural monuments so that they did not fall apart. Everything that we found valuable in the treks (ancient crafts, household items and tools), Yuri collected and carried away to the regional museum, where they are now stored.

Hiking experience

According to another Solikamian, Yuri Kuntsevich, Yudin was an extraordinary man. They went hiking together. "Although Yuri Yefimovich was already approaching seventy, he never complained about difficulties along the way. On the contrary, he was always ready to help weaker comrades. We, of course, felt sorry for him and did not allow him to carry our luggage, as he wanted."

The people who knew Yudin were amazed by one more feature: he was sincere and at the same time so interesting to talk to that one immediately feels respect toward him. He communicated with everyone at his own level, without lowering his high intellectual standards.

In the nineties, Yuri Efimovich was waiting for his career to take off - he was appointed deputy head of the city for economic policy. And this did Solikamsk only good. It was he who pushed through some significant projects for the local culture.

Irina Kiyashko, a resident of the city, in her documentary film "The Tenth. A Life-Long Hike" names him with inspiration a deputy mayor and just a good person:

— I think Solikamsk was extremely fortunate that fate brought to the city such an extraordinary and bright person. The wide horizon of Yuri Yudin amazed everyone who had been in contact with him. He was not just an avid hiker and selfless mentor of youth. Even working on economic development in the city administration, Yuri Yefimovich found time to address issues of culture, ecology, the preservation of historical and natural monuments, and the patriotic education of schoolchildren. It was he who stood at the origins of the creation in Solikamsk of the mineralogical museum and the Oleinikov Museum of Artists, preparing documents for the transfer of the Ust-Borovsky salt factory under the auspices of UNESCO.

As it often happens, despite his intense social activities and active life position, Yuri Yudin remained a very lonely person until the end of his days.

As Irina Kiyashko correctly noted in her documentary film, he probably deliberately loaded herself with an abundance of work in order to be less alone with the ghosts of the nine comrades whom he had deserted in their last expedition ... Especially Lyuda, a very cute, very brave girl.

Yuri Yudin diary

Shortly before his death, the seventy-five-year-old man locked himself in an apartment, to friends and acquaintances he explained the reclusion as follows: I am writing a novel about the Dyatlov Pass. When, after a while, they found the body of the pensioner Yudin, they did not find the manuscript of the novel, only a lot of newspaper clippings about the ill-fated pass and attempts to substantiate what had happened.

Source: Непермь

Yuri Yudin died on 27 April 2013 at age 75 from rheumatic heart disease.
His ashes are buried in Mihaylovskoe cemetery, next to the remains of the other seven members of Dyatlov group.

Dear Aleксander! I am answering Olga's questions from the TAU forum.

1. About wadded quilts and fur jackets.
   

   According to the inventory, there were 6 of them in the tent and one was in S. Kolevatov's backpack.

   In the tent was I. Dyatlov's leather fur jacket with a zipper. K. Thibault was found in a fur jacket (I think his own). Total = 9 pcs.

   As for the inconsistency in the inventory, he has a quilted jacket, then perhaps this is an incorrect entry by investigator Ivanov. He wrote the inventory as he needed in his own handwriting. He wrote that I gave my fur sleeveless jacket to S. Kolevatov, while I gave it at the 2nd Northern to Y. Doroshenko.

   He attributed to me that I allegedly identified the intimate parts of Zina's clothing and what the first five bodies were found in, but naturally I could not do this since I was not present at the autopsy and undressing of the bodies... I was naive and signed the inventory without reading it, firmly believing in the actions of the investigator.

2. About the headwear: Y. Doroshenko and S. Zolotaryov wore earflaps, K. Thibault fur hat, in addition, according to my inventory, there were 7 woolen hats, which provided protection even in severe frost.

3. About the shoes at the camp site: there were 5 pairs of felt boots, Zolotaryov had quilted soft wadded boots without soles (burki) for sleeping, in the tent there were also two pairs of fur covers and two pairs of cloth house slippers. At the campfire sites they stayed in inner boots with covers on them.

4. I can't say anything about the sweaters.

5. About storm pants: Y. Doroshenko probably had them and remained in the tent, and Ivanov wrote them down to Kolevatov.

   5 storm trousers were found in the tent, S. Kolevatov was found in storm trousers in May, S. Zolotaryov was found in overalls in May.

   A total of 7 canvas trousers. Girls in our time did not like to walk in clumsy oversized canvas trousers. Apparently, they did not take them on the trek.

6. According to the prosecutor's protocol dated May 6, 1959, it can be understood that Kolevatov was wearing a storm suit. But from the photo, where he is transported to the helicopter, only storm trousers (most likely his own) are visible, and there is no storm jacket on him, only a ski jacket with a burnt sleeve. According to my inventory, all 9 storm jackets were in the tent.

7. As for S. Kolevatov's birthday, I can't comment anything. From the context of the group's diary, it looks like they celebrated his birthday on January 30, I have no doubts about it.

Respectfully   Y. Yudin (signature)     May 14, 2008
I attach 2 copies of a power of attorney.

Text in Russian

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