The Dyatlov pass mystery
Two scientists in Switzerland solved the mysterious incident. They tell us in the ETH podcast why they got interested in the incident and what happened after they published their findings.
Over 60 years ago, a skiing expedition in Soviet Russia started as an adventure and ended in a tragedy. A group of students never returned from a trip to the Ural mountains in the winter of 1959 and were found dead later. This story is known as the Dyatlov Pass Incident. It has inspired many tales about the deaths of the students, including Soviet military experiments, conspiracy theories, killer Yetis, and extraterrestrials. Alexander Puzrin from ETH Zurich and Johan Gaume from EPFL found a plausible explanation for the accident using computer simulation and analytical models. They made headlines around the world with it earlier this year.
Reference
Gaume J, Puzrin A. Mechanisms of slab avalanche release and impact in the Dyatlov Pass incident in 1959. Communications Earth and Environment. 28. Januar 2021. DOI: external page10.1038/s43247-020-00081-8