Donnie Eichar

Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar tells of the 1959 Russian student hiking expedition where all 9 participants lost their lives in an unexplained and brutal manner. Eichar took up his quest to find answers in 2009 and intensive research and two trips to Russia eventually gave him a working theory on what happened the night of February 1, 1959. Although his theory hasn’t been totally accepted, it does seem to have the ring of truth to it and certainly makes more sense than aliens or mass murder.

The author is a film and TV director and producer. He came across the 50 year-old mystery of the Russian hikers and was so intrigued that he spent the next few years in following the information and in interviewing anyone who had a connection to the incident. The seven men and two women of the expedition were expert hikers, used to both the type of terrain and the fierce weather conditions that they found in the Ural Mountains. There were many theories swirling around including that of aliens, government conspiracy, escaped political prisoners and freak weather conditions that the author needed to explore and discard. But the fact remained that all nine hikers seemed to have left the tent in a frenzy that night and wandered off with no shoes and barely clothed in the sub-zero temperature.

I wasn’t expecting a lot from this book, but the author managed to totally intrigue me and I couldn’t put it down. The questions just seem to keep mounting and I believe the author did a thorough job of sorting though the information and not sensationalizing the events. This was an overwhelming tragedy at the time and even today stirs the emotions and baffles the mind.… (mehr)

I feel weird giving a non-fiction anything but a 5 star, but this was closer to a 4.

I really enjoyed the differing timelines, from what the author experienced to what happened back in 1959 was a great juxtaposition, I just wish there was a little more of a clear distinction between the two. Also, he established nicknames for most of the explorers, but then kept waffling on what he called them, which was confusing.

It was very, very interesting though and obviously thoroughly investigated!… (mehr)

I seem to be going "every other" with liking books. This one didn't work for me. I thought I was going to read a mountaineering/exploration type book, which I tend to love. Instead this read more like true crime/unsolved mysteries.

The story is that a group of 9 young men and women in 1950s Soviet Union set out on a winter hiking trip into the Ural Mountains. They are experienced hikers trying for their Class 3 hiking certification - the highest level. They don't return on time and a rescue mission is sent out to look for them. What the rescue team finds is horrific. An empty tent with only the hikers' possessions - food in middle of being eaten, coats, boots, and 3 slashes in the back of the tent. They begin to find the bodies of the hikers in small groups, all over a mile from their tent. All deceased. All without boots/shoes.

What happened was never solved and an American writer decides to investigate. He goes to Russia several times to conduct interviews and retrace part of their route. The book became too much about him.

The book ends with the writer's version about what happened. I wasn't convinced at all.

Very unsatisfying. Also felt sort of voyeuristic and like it wasn't this random American's job to be investigating this.… (mehr)