Mountain of the Dead (3 page)

At the 41st Kvartal they were glad to be able to get off the truck. Even though it was a remote area, there was a hostel there, which was operated with a dormitory system for the geologists and workers in the area to stay. However, the group were given their own private room probably due to deference to their status as educated students.

Whilst there they spoke to the workers and in particular befriended an older man called Ognev who made quite an impression on George Krivonischenko.
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Ognev also made an impression on Luda who was keeping her own private diary (apart from the group diary that everyone had access to), in which she gave a fuller description of Ognev. On arrival at the hostel they cooked lunch and then rested. Films were available to watch in the hostel and some of them watched a film while the others occupied themselves individually. Rustem played his mandolin while talking to Nicolai. Krivonischenko spent his time checking the equipment to make any necessary adjustments to the packing. Krivonischenko had made the diary entry describing their arrival at the hostel and how they spent their time on 26 January, but there is a single cryptic comment in the diary for that day made by Nicolai Thibeaux-Brignolle in which he states: ‘I can’t although I tried.’

There is no further detail and no later comment regarding this single-line entry, but Nicolai is thought to be possibly referring to having started smoking again despite the solemn promise made by himself and the other males in the group that they would not smoke for the entire trip.

The next day, 27 January, the diary entry described the weather as ‘good’. The wind was behind them and they reached an agreement with locals at the 41st Kvartal for a horse and a guide to take them to the next point on their journey (an abandoned settlement), which was approximately 15 miles (24km) further on. While waiting for the use of the horse they helped a local by the name of Slava (described as ‘Grandfather Slava’) to unload hay from a carriage. Some of the boys rewrote a song and then started singing with some of the locals and workers. One man in particular was described as singing beautifully. A number of forbidden songs were also sung, but these only by the workers,
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as the comment in the group diary was ‘We heard …’ rather than any reference to any of the group singing the songs themselves or joining in. Nevertheless, they obviously knew that the songs were illegal as they used the term ‘illegal’ to describe them. It is possible they either joined in or sang some themselves, but would have made no written reference to having done so for fear of possible censure if anyone in authority read their diary on their return. A further comment was also made in the diary regarding these songs as ‘Article 58 Counter-Revolutionary Crimes’.
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The group departed from the 41st Kvartal at 4 p.m. on 27 January, with this 15-mile (24km) section of the journey on foot made much easier by having the horse pull their packs and equipment on a cart. Before departing they had bought loaves of soft warm bread and ate two of them on the journey. The second severny (settlement) they reached was abandoned and derelict, but Ognev had told Igor Dyatlov where they could find a habitable dwelling to settle for the night to break their journey.

It was at some time during this fifth day (27 January) of their journey that Yury Yudin’s illness worsened. He had fallen ill on the truck travelling from Vizhay to the 41st Kvartal but had decided to tough it out and continued with the group as far as the second severny, as he wanted to collect some geology samples and then return to Sverdlovsk. The pain in his leg was getting worse and it had become apparent that he would be unable to meet the more physical demands of the rest of the journey in the mountains. He was diagnosed eventually with acute radiculitis. The second severny, which as mentioned was now abandoned, had been a settlement used by Soviet geologists while they carried out research locally. Yury Yudin was an economist but had an interest in geology and, despite his illness, he obviously felt there was some value in continuing with the group in order to search out samples around the settlement to take back with him to the university.

The horse pulling the group’s backpacks and equipment moved slowly, yet the group was able to travel faster than if they had been carrying the stuff themselves. Despite complaints about the slowness of the horse, they covered 4 miles (8km) in two hours, reaching the River Ushma. By now, darkness was falling. Some members of the group had moved on ahead to reach the abandoned settlement before darkness fell completely. They wanted to find the house described to them by Ognev as it was the only place suitable to rest for the night as all the other buildings were in a bad state of disrepair, with a number of them literally falling apart. In the event, they managed to find the house described by Ognev in the complete darkness, out of the twenty-five houses in the settlement, and started a fire to keep warm. Several of them pierced their hands on old nails in the wood as they were gathering it for the fire. The horse and cart, with Yury Yudin sitting on top in order to spare his leg pain, along with the remaining members of the group, eventually arrived at the abandoned settlement later that evening. Once they had settled in, they sat by the fire and talked and sang until 3 a.m. the following morning (28 January) before going to sleep.

The first two members of the group to awaken on 28 January were George Krivonischenko and Alexander Kolevatov, who then woke the others. The weather was good, with clear visibility. Although the temperature was -8ºC, it was not excessively cold for the time of year and the area. After they had eaten breakfast, Luda made adjustments to the mountings on her skis and Yury Yudin went outside into the area near the settlement to see if he could find any minerals. There was nothing of any interest to him apart from pyrite and quartz veins in the immediate surrounding area. It must have been a relatively cursory search as he was to leave the group that day and return to Sverdlovsk on account of his illness. He possibly felt too ill to search properly, but at least would be able to show on his return that he had made an effort despite being unwell. Again, this display of stoicism would have fitted in well with the ideal of the young communist – who is prepared to do what is expected of him or her, no matter what troubles may have to be faced.

The first part of the diary entry for this day (28 January) was made by Luda, who was obviously very fond of Yury Yudin and sorry to see him go. Luda states that it was a pity (‘especially for me and Zina’) that Yury Yudin had to return. Luda appears to have been more demure than Zina. One photo shows Luda embracing Yury Yudin in a genuine display of affection for him before he leaves, while another shows Zina touching Yudin’s face as a gesture of affection just as he is preparing to make his departure. After leaving his companions behind, Yury Yudin would dwell for the remainder of his life on what happened to them and how fortunate he was to have escaped their fate.

Once Yudin had taken his leave, the remaining members of the group set out on what is described as the first day of their journey proper. By this it is meant the actual part of the journey out into the mountains on their skis, out into the wild terrain and away from any civilisation. It was an area that was well known by Mansi hunters but there were no signs of habitation or any settlements.

Although the first part of the diary entry for 28 January had been made by Luda at the abandoned settlement, the second entry for that day was made by Nicolai Thibeaux-Brignolle, who describes the journey into the mountains from the abandoned settlement.

They went along and up close to the River Lozva (there are numerous rivers in the area, all relatively close to each other). Each of the remaining members of the group took turns to be in the lead for ten minutes at a time. Mention is made by Nicolai about the depth of snow being significantly less as compared with the previous year, which implies he had been there in 1958, possibly with other members of the group. This part of their journey was hard going as they constantly had to stop and wipe melted snow from their skis. George Krivonischenko was at the rear of the group making sketches of the route and terrain. They passed some small cliffs on the right bank of the River Lozva and then the terrain became flatter. At 5.30 p.m. on 28 January they stopped to camp for the first night. The tent they had was a large one that had been ‘customised’ by Igor Dyatlov and his friend, Boris Slobtsov. It was big enough to sleep all nine of them (it would have accommodated eleven in fact, had Yury Yudin continued his journey with the group and had Nicolai Popov also made the trip), and the interior had curtains with which to make compartments and also afford some privacy to Zina and Luda. Igor had built a stove that could be placed inside the front entrance, with the chimney going out of the tent and upwards at a right angle. The stove presented some problems while they assembled it; eventually they left some parts unassembled while they cooked dinner. After they finished eating, they sat around a campfire alternately talking and singing, accompanied by Rustem’s mandolin. Zina asked Rustem to show her how to play it, though more out of amusement than any serious attempt to learn: she enjoyed being the centre of attention. The discussions once again returned to the topic of love, although it is not known who raised the subject. Towards the end of the evening, a suggestion was made by someone that they should start a separate notebook for ideas anyone might have on their expedition. Eventually they all made their way inside the tent to prepare to sleep for the night and this was when a terrible argument broke out. No one wanted to sleep by the stove, which was just inside the entrance at the front of the tent. It appears that a group decision was made (the diary states ‘we agree that Yurka Kri will sleep there’) that George Krivonischenko be nominated to sleep there, without any recourse or discussion with him. Possibly Igor Dyatlov as group leader told him that he was nominated to spend the night there. However, the decision was reached and the result was an explosion of temper from Krivonischenko, who started swearing and accusing the others that they had ‘betrayed him’. This must have brought a rejoinder from at least some of the others, because although he moved to take his position next to the stove, the furious Krivonischenko continued shouting and arguing for some time after they had bedded down and they were unable to get to sleep for some time due to the commotion. Whilst the outburst of temper from Krivonischenko may have taken them all by surprise, he possibly had some justification as he had already slept on the floor of the hotel in Vizhay only three days previously in order to allow the others to sleep in the beds. Whether or not his anger was justified, the incident showed that Krivonischenko had a very short fuse.

The effect of the furious row must have spilled over into the following day (29 January). There is a short, terse two-line diary entry by Nicolai Thibeaux-Brignolle describing the route they take, which ends with ‘That is it’. Yet no mention is made of the argument in the tent the previous night. This second day of their journey into the mountains saw them move from the River Lozva to the River Auspia, a right-hand tributary. The group travelled along a sleigh-and-deer trail on the riverbank used by Mansi hunters. With a weak wind and the temperature at -13ºC, the only thing mentioned in the diary for that day is the occasional appearance of ice in the River Lozva.

They tried to make good progress on 30 January as the weather was noticeably colder and they wanted to move north from the route they were following along the River Auspia. They had spent the third night camped on the shore of the river and with the approach of night the temperature had plunged to -26ºC. The morning temperatures were between -13ºC and -17ºC. The temperature and conditions were described as typical for the Urals.

The home-made stove constructed by Igor Dyatlov was said to be doing ‘a great job’. George Krivonischenko made the suggestion that they should make steam heat in the tent; the cold was obviously affecting them. It is not known who made the diary entry for 30 January but an entry stated that the curtains hung inside the tent ‘were quite justified’: it is not known if this is a reference to privacy or whether the curtains acted as further insulation from the cold by compartmentalising the tent’s interior.

They rose at 8.30 a.m. on 30 January, had breakfast and then departed. The group diary was written while on the go. Their progress along the Auspia River was impeded by ice dams although there was not enough ice to actually walk on the river itself, so they moved slightly inland to a sledge trail used by the Mansi. This third day on foot and skis saw them moving into the territory used by the Mansi, and reference was made to the tribe and their use of signs and markings on the trees they passed, which signified how many local hunters had passed along the trail and to which family clan they belonged. Some of the markings also referred to the types of animals in the area. The sledge and deer trail gradually petered out and the forest itself also started thinning out as the trees became shorter, with mention of dwarf birches and pines. As they started moving out of the thicker forest, they looked for a suitable place to camp and eventually settled on a spot near some trees. There was a strong west wind that was blowing snow off the cedar and pine trees, giving the effect of falling snow. The tent was erected on a bed of spruce branches and they built a fire to warm themselves before sleep.

On 31 January the sky was clear but there was a strong west wind that was causing snow to fall from the tops of the trees. The temperature was between -18ºC and -24ºC. It is recorded that they gradually left the Auspia Valley making slow progress (roughly 1 mile per hour). They took an old beaten Mansi trail that they noticed had been used fairly recently by a Mansi hunter. The ground was starting to rise gradually and the going was hard with low visibility. The group was forced to find a new method of clearing a path for the skis: walking in single file, the first one dropped his/her rucksack and walked forward, making the trail in the deep snow for a period of approximately five minutes. He/she could move quicker than the rest of the group. The group continued following the person up front without the rucksack. Movement was always difficult for the second person in the file because the snow had not properly compacted and they would be carrying a full load. After five minutes of clearing the way, the first one went back to their rucksack, took a short rest and then caught up with the group. This person then became the last in the file but the going was easier for them because the snow was now compacted by the eight people in front. The file would continue with each taking their turn. As they left the Auspia valley, the ground continued to rise but was smooth. They prepared to pitch their tent at around 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. that afternoon. The snow cover was 1.22m (4ft) thick and was still falling.