Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident

In February 1959, nine experienced hikers died under mysterious circumstances on an elevation called Dead Mountain in the Russian Ural Mountains. The incident involved unexplained violent injuries, evidence that the hikers cut open and fled their tent without proper clothing or shoes, a strange final photograph, and elevated radiation levels found on some of their clothes. These details sparked decades of speculation about what occurred. Donnie Eichar investigates this mystery through unprecedented access to the hikers' journals and photographs, rarely seen government records, and dozens of interviews. He retraces the hikers' journey through the Russian winter, weaving together the hikers' narrative, the investigators' efforts, and his own research. The book presents a portrait of young adventurers in the Soviet era and examines the events of that night on Dead Mountain.