⋙ [PDF] Free Dead Mountain The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident Donnie Eichar Books

Dead Mountain The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident Donnie Eichar Books

Download As PDF : Dead Mountain The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident Donnie Eichar Books

Dead Mountain The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident Donnie Eichar Books

Dead Mountain is a well-researched, and respectful book about the Dyatlov Pass incident that took the lives of nine young Russian university students in February of 1959. The mystery around the tragedy is an engrossing one that has been much sensationalized over the years. Film-maker Donnie Eichar cuts through the sensationalism to present a sober investigation into what really happened.

At the height of the Cold War and Soviet Union power, ten students of the Ural Polytechnic Institute Hiking Club took off on an expedition to Otorten Mountain in the northern Urals. All were experienced winter hikers and mountaineers, especially their leader, Igor Dyatlov. When they failed to return after three weeks, a search was launched. The initial search party found their empty tent and no sign of the hikers. All indications were that the tent had been abandoned in panic. Then, after some weeks of searching, the bodies were found.

"Their bodies were eventually found roughly a mile away from their campsite, in separate locations, half-dressed in subzero temperatures. Some were found facedown in the snow; others in fetal position; and some in a ravine clutching one another. Nearly all were without their shoes." (p 23)

One of their group, Yuri Yudin, had turned back, well before the tragedy occurred, due to a bout of pain from his chronic rheumatism, making him the only survivor.

So what could have happened to drive these young people out into a dark night of howling winds in below-zero temperatures? That’s the mystery that has prompted horror stories about the incident and that drives the narrative of Dead Mountain.

I have to admit that the mystery as outlined in the book blurbs grabbed my imagination. I had never heard of the incident and so wanted to know what it was all about, and why it was little known in the West. The book’s author, Donnie Eichar, is a director and producer of film work for MTV. He also became enamored with the story and determined to resolve the mystery. His research led him to literally retrace the hikers’ steps into the Urals in winter. He was the first American to do so.

Mr. Eichar’s prose is well-written and keeps up the tension of the mystery as he takes us with him on his investigation. The narrative alternates between his research and the story of the hikers as recorded in their group diary and photographs. These photographs are readily found on the Internet and I referred to them often as I read Dead Mountain. Many of them are included in the book.

Through the diary and photos the hikers are revealed as smart, well-adjusted young people with a love for life and the outdoors. Their last hike was to earn them a certification that would allow them to teach mountain hiking. So they knew what they were doing. There was one 37 year-old among the group, but the rest were all under 24. They were interested in two-way radios (the geek equivalent of personal computers for the time), hard science (they were engineering and physics majors), and the possibilities for love and romance (especially the two young women). The photos show a lot of college-student clowning and the diary indicates their excitement for their adventure. Accounts from the people that encountered them along their way are all positive as to their demeanor and attitudes.

Tension builds as Mr. Eichar recounts the groups’ final expedition. He tells us enough of the hikers’ personal lives that we get to know them as individuals. We feel their youthful friendships, hopes, and concerns. We struggle with them as they work out the logistics of their trip, and feel the pathos in Yuri’s early parting with them, expecting to reunite in a week’s time.

Tension also builds in the account of Mr. Eichar’s own journey to retrace the hikers’ steps and so gain clues as to what happened to them. He has to deal with a language barrier and his own journey logistics. Being from Florida, he has little experience of mountains and none of sub-zero cold. On top of all this, he makes a search for the lone surviving member of the Dyatlov group, Yuri Yudin.

I found Dead Mountain to be engrossing and hard to put down. Mr. Eichar keeps his prose moving, interesting, and relevant. Internet photos enhance the book, but I found the autopsy photos disturbing. The driving force of the book, however, is the mystery: what happened to hikers? UFOs? Yeti? Bandits? All have been proposed as solutions. After examining all the evidence he could gather, Mr. Eichar comes up with his own idea about what happened.

The last chapter of Dead Mountain is Mr. Eichar’s reconstruction of the events of the hikers’ last night. The scenario he describes is, in my opinion, probably very close to the truth.

I think Dead Mountain is a good exercise in how to approach and to think about a stubborn mystery, especially one with paranormal overtones. It indicates the kind of open-minded work required to get to the bottom of things (whether you think Mr. Eichar did or not). In the end, it is a reminder of the tragedies in this world, and of nine promising young people who were taken out of it much too early.


Tags : Amazon.com: Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident (8601400519172): Donnie Eichar: Books,Donnie Eichar,Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident,Chronicle Books,1452112746,Hiking,Eichar, Donnie - Travel - Russia (Federation) - Ural Mountains Region,HISTORY Europe Russia & the Former Soviet Union,Hiking - Russia (Federation) - Ural Mountains Region,Hiking;Russia (Federation);Ural Mountains Region.,Mountaineering accidents - Russia (Federation) - Ural Mountains Region - 20th century,Mountaineering accidents;Russia (Federation);Ural Mountains Region;20th century.,Ural Mountains Region (Russia) - History - 20th century,Ural Mountains Region (Russia);History;20th century.,20th century,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Historical,Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union,GENERAL,General Adult,HISTORY Europe Russia & the Former Soviet Union.,HISTORY Expeditions & Discoveries,HISTORY Russia & the Former Soviet Union,History,History - General History,History: specific events & topics,Hunt for the Skinwalker; Dead Mountain; Dead Mountain the Untold True Story; Dyatlov Pass; Cold Mountain; dyatlov pass; mountain of the dead; russian mystery; cold war mystery,Mountaineering accidents,Mountaineering accidents - Russia (Federation) - Ural Mountains Region - 20th century,Mountaineering accidents;Russia (Federation);Ural Mountains Region;20th century.,Non-Fiction,Russia,Russia (Federation),SPORTS & RECREATION Hiking,Sports,Sports & Recreation,United States,Ural Mountains Region,Ural Mountains Region (Russia) - History - 20th century,Ural Mountains Region (Russia);History;20th century.,bisacsh,dyatlov pass; mountain of the dead; russian mystery; cold war mystery; Hunt for the Skinwalker; Dead Mountain; Dead Mountain the Untold True Story; Cold Mountain,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Historical,Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union,HISTORY Expeditions & Discoveries,HISTORY Russia & the Former Soviet Union,SPORTS & RECREATION Hiking,History - General History,20th century,HISTORY Europe Russia & the Former Soviet Union.,Mountaineering accidents,Russia (Federation),Ural Mountains Region,bisacsh,Sports & Recreation,Sports,History: specific events & topics

Dead Mountain The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident Donnie Eichar Books Reviews

Well this is really two books the story of the 9 hikers who died in the Dyatlov pass in February 1959, and Donnie Eichar's trip to Russia in 2012, where he pretty much retraced the steps of the Dyatlov party into the Ural mountains. He does a nice job of reconstructing the last days of the Dyatlov party's and really introduces them to us. The portion of the book I think of as "Donnie's Russian Adventure" is pretty annoying. He does not speak Russian so relies on translators or just gestures and facial expressions, probably about the worst way to interview someone or get information from them. Who knows what he missed? I got the impression he hurried the whole trip because he had a baby on the way. He also seems woefully ignorant of life in the Soviet Union during the time period. I wasn't looking for UFO explanations or anything, but he ignores several important things in his "investigation" comes up with some possible, maybe it could be if everything was just right theory. He ignores the fact that these were experienced, tough kids, well versed in hiking the Russian mountains in winter (((SPOILER ALERT))) instead theorizing that these people were frightened by low frequency sound. Noise, basically. This sound supposedly frightened them so much that these experienced, tough, capable hikers abandoned their tent in -40 degree Fahrenheit temperatures with a 40 to 50 mile an hour wind and fled to their deaths, in many cases half clothed and in all cases barefoot. This is just nonsensical. These folks would have known beyond any doubt that by doing so, they would die of exposure very quickly. I don't care how much dread or fear infrasonic sound can induce, I seriously doubt all nine of these folks succumbed to a level of panic that caused them to knowingly commit suicide by leaving the tent half clothed and fleeing blindly into the arctic
darkness. It's just not credible. One or two, maybe, but all nine? Nobody flees blindly into certain death unless something more immediately threatening is there, and these folks obviously left in a big hurry, all at once. I don't know what did happen, but I'm not buying this theory. Sorry.
Dead Mountain is a well-researched, and respectful book about the Dyatlov Pass incident that took the lives of nine young Russian university students in February of 1959. The mystery around the tragedy is an engrossing one that has been much sensationalized over the years. Film-maker Donnie Eichar cuts through the sensationalism to present a sober investigation into what really happened.

At the height of the Cold War and Soviet Union power, ten students of the Ural Polytechnic Institute Hiking Club took off on an expedition to Otorten Mountain in the northern Urals. All were experienced winter hikers and mountaineers, especially their leader, Igor Dyatlov. When they failed to return after three weeks, a search was launched. The initial search party found their empty tent and no sign of the hikers. All indications were that the tent had been abandoned in panic. Then, after some weeks of searching, the bodies were found.

"Their bodies were eventually found roughly a mile away from their campsite, in separate locations, half-dressed in subzero temperatures. Some were found facedown in the snow; others in fetal position; and some in a ravine clutching one another. Nearly all were without their shoes." (p 23)

One of their group, Yuri Yudin, had turned back, well before the tragedy occurred, due to a bout of pain from his chronic rheumatism, making him the only survivor.

So what could have happened to drive these young people out into a dark night of howling winds in below-zero temperatures? That’s the mystery that has prompted horror stories about the incident and that drives the narrative of Dead Mountain.

I have to admit that the mystery as outlined in the book blurbs grabbed my imagination. I had never heard of the incident and so wanted to know what it was all about, and why it was little known in the West. The book’s author, Donnie Eichar, is a director and producer of film work for MTV. He also became enamored with the story and determined to resolve the mystery. His research led him to literally retrace the hikers’ steps into the Urals in winter. He was the first American to do so.

Mr. Eichar’s prose is well-written and keeps up the tension of the mystery as he takes us with him on his investigation. The narrative alternates between his research and the story of the hikers as recorded in their group diary and photographs. These photographs are readily found on the Internet and I referred to them often as I read Dead Mountain. Many of them are included in the book.

Through the diary and photos the hikers are revealed as smart, well-adjusted young people with a love for life and the outdoors. Their last hike was to earn them a certification that would allow them to teach mountain hiking. So they knew what they were doing. There was one 37 year-old among the group, but the rest were all under 24. They were interested in two-way radios (the geek equivalent of personal computers for the time), hard science (they were engineering and physics majors), and the possibilities for love and romance (especially the two young women). The photos show a lot of college-student clowning and the diary indicates their excitement for their adventure. Accounts from the people that encountered them along their way are all positive as to their demeanor and attitudes.

Tension builds as Mr. Eichar recounts the groups’ final expedition. He tells us enough of the hikers’ personal lives that we get to know them as individuals. We feel their youthful friendships, hopes, and concerns. We struggle with them as they work out the logistics of their trip, and feel the pathos in Yuri’s early parting with them, expecting to reunite in a week’s time.

Tension also builds in the account of Mr. Eichar’s own journey to retrace the hikers’ steps and so gain clues as to what happened to them. He has to deal with a language barrier and his own journey logistics. Being from Florida, he has little experience of mountains and none of sub-zero cold. On top of all this, he makes a search for the lone surviving member of the Dyatlov group, Yuri Yudin.

I found Dead Mountain to be engrossing and hard to put down. Mr. Eichar keeps his prose moving, interesting, and relevant. Internet photos enhance the book, but I found the autopsy photos disturbing. The driving force of the book, however, is the mystery what happened to hikers? UFOs? Yeti? Bandits? All have been proposed as solutions. After examining all the evidence he could gather, Mr. Eichar comes up with his own idea about what happened.

The last chapter of Dead Mountain is Mr. Eichar’s reconstruction of the events of the hikers’ last night. The scenario he describes is, in my opinion, probably very close to the truth.

I think Dead Mountain is a good exercise in how to approach and to think about a stubborn mystery, especially one with paranormal overtones. It indicates the kind of open-minded work required to get to the bottom of things (whether you think Mr. Eichar did or not). In the end, it is a reminder of the tragedies in this world, and of nine promising young people who were taken out of it much too early.