The telegram of Rustem Slobodin, February 26, 1959
«Greetings to the native Sverdlovsk residents! Yesterday we safely reached the Vizhai village. Now we are driving to the starting point, the 2nd Severnyi village by a special car.»
The telegram contains a very interesting information, which has not been paid due attention to before. It turned out that the hikers were not driving in an ordinary car, but «in a special car.» But looking at the broken car body, a fair question arises: «How was it different from other cars of those years to be called a special car?» And the answer to this important question was given by Yura Yudin.
The diary of Yura Yudin, January 26, 1959
«In the truck in which we came,3 movies were brought: «My Apprenticeship» by Gorki, «There is such a guy» and «Symphony in gold».
Now everything fell into a groove. Indeed, the car was ordinary, but due to the fact that it belonged to a cinema operator, it was called a special car, since it carried the equipment for the demonstration of feature films to the personnel of the 8th Camp Department. Accordingly, the engineer Dryakhlykh, negotiated on the issue of a car not for the students, but for the needs of the Energolesokombinat, i.e. on the eve of the opening of the 21st Congress of the CPSU, he wanted to show the feature films to the lumberjacks. And the next day, January 27, the cinema operator with the hikers would have continued on to the 2nd Severnyi village. That was why, comrade Khakimov said that the Dyatlov group was taken by the car to the Severnyi village on January 27. But this information did not fully correspond to reality, since the car with the movie operator, indeed, continued its movement, but without the hikers. And why this happened, I will tell you, but not in this chapter, since now we are talking about something completely different, namely of the Severnyi mine.
One fact, moreover, a controversial one, cannot be a 100% guarantee that a certain settlement was actually located behind the 2nd Severnyi village. Therefore, we had to look for more compelling evidence of the existence of the Severnyi mine. And, strange as it might sound, such information was in the criminal case files, rather than somewhere in the secret archives.
The Protocol of interrogation of the witness Mikhail Timofeyevich Dryakhlykh, March 5, 1959
«On February 21, 1959, a student of the Polytechnic Institute, (I do not know his name), the aircraft commander Spitsyn and a navigator flew off on an „Yak“ airplane in the direction of the Vizhai village, thence up the Lozva river through the 41st Kvartal, the 2nd Severnyi village, the Severnyi mine to the mouth of the Auspiya river, up along the Auspiya river. Then returned back through the 2nd Severnyi village and the 41st Kvartal.»
A criminal case file, sheet 41
2-ой Северный рудник – The 2nd Severnyi mine. Северный рудник – The Severnyi mine.
Coming from the Protocol of interrogation of the witness Dryakhlykh, it turns out that the Severnyi mine was located between the 2nd Severnyi village and the mouth of the Auspiya river, but away from the Lozva river. The thing was that the plane flew in one direction over the road, and back over the Lozva river. That is why in one case the Severnyi mine is mentioned, and in the other case not. And it remains to find out where this unknown settlement was approximately located.
Radiogram No. 26. Received by Temnikov. To Sulman
«We are in 6—10 km from the mouth of the Auspiya river. In the village at the mouth of the Auspiya river the tracks of narrow sports skis were found. The ski trail was quite well-trodden, there were many people, 8—10 persons. The tracks are old. Nevolin.»
A criminal case file, sheet 143
Устье Ауспии – The mouth of the Auspiya river. Санно-оленья тропа – The deer-and-sledge trail. Северный рудник – The Severnyi mine.
Based on the radiogram, the village was located 6—10 km from the mouth of the Auspiya river. And although Nevolin did not indicate the name of the settlement, it was clearly referred to the Severnyi mine, since there were no other settlements in that area. Having compared all available facts, I began to search for the Severnyi mine. And I have found only one place in the maps, which fully corresponded to the available information. This is the height «297 (296.4)». It was located about 7 km from the mouth of the Auspiya river, if you move along the deer-and-sledge trail, which is indicated in the old maps. In addition, based on the modern satellite maps, an abandoned road from the 2nd Severnyi village to this height was visible.
Chapter 4. «The hiking route by days» of Yevgeniy Maslennikov
After the Severnyi village was found, it was possible to start analyzing a very important document, which, undoubtedly, was «The hiking route by days», compiled by the student of the Ural Polytechnic Institute, Dyatlov Igor Alekseyevich, back in December 1958. And there was something to disassemble, since the route, presented in this document did not correspond to reality for a number of reasons. And it was the Severnyi mine that put everything in its place. However, first things first.
The hiking route by days
«The 4th – 5th days of the hike. The Vizhai village – the 2nd Severnyi village, 55 km;
The 6th day of the hike – — – — – — – — – — – — – — -;
The 7th – 8th days of the hike. Up the Auspiya river, 38 km;
The 9th day of the hike. A pass at the upper reaches of the Lozva river, 14 km;
The 10th day of the hike. The ascent of the Mount Otorten, 20 km;
The 11th day of the hike. The Mount Otorten – the upper reaches of the Auspiya river, 18 km».
A criminal case file, sheet 202
And to make it clear what this chapter is about, I will put the dates for each hike day.
The hiking route by days.
The 4th – 5th days of the hike. The Vizhai village – the 2nd Severnyi village, 55 km., January 26 and 17;
The 6th day of the hike – — – — – — – — – — – — – — – January 28;
The 7th – 8th days of the hike. Up the Auspiya river, 38 km., January 29 and 30;
The 9th day of the hike. A pass at the upper reaches of the Lozva river, 14 km., January 31;
The 10th day of the hike. The ascent of the Mount Otorten, 20 km., February 1;
The 11th day of the hike. The Mount Otorten – the upper reaches of the Auspiya river, 18 km., February 2.
There are 3 points in «The hiking route by days», which put serious questions to Igor Dyatlov, as the author of this document. The first one is why were the dashes inserted for January 28, and was not the mileage indicated, as if the hikers were not intended to go along the Lozva river? The second one is why were 38 km up the Auspiya river indicated, and not 30, as in reality? The third one is what 14 km the hikers had to overcome on January 31, if they had