The Science That Finally Explains the Dyatlov Pass Incident

In February 1959, nine Soviet cross-country skiers died on a mountainside under mysterious circumstances. Theories about the Dyatlov Pass incident quickly spiraled into conspiracy, and have captured global attention for 65 years. But much of the mystery surrounding the events at Dyatlov Pass comes down to just how little we know about snow. Snow’s material properties and the ways it moves have kept physicists frustrated for decades. It wasn’t until 2021 that a physics simulation, heavily inspired by Disney’s movie Frozen, unlocked a new way to study snow and avalanche dynamics. And, coincidentally, finally provided plausible clues about the skiers’ final tragic night in the brutally freezing cold. Hosted by: Madelyn Leembruggen (she/her) This video was made possible by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. To learn more, head to https://sloan.org/programs/public-understanding Correction: 25:40 Dale's name should be spelled "Dale Mayeda" ---------- Support us for $8/month on Patreon and keep SciShow going! https://www.patreon.com/scishow Or support us directly: https://complexly.com/support Join our SciShow email list to get the latest news and highlights: https://mailchi.mp/scishow/email ---------- Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever: ., Adam Brainard, Alex Hackman, Anita, Anne Herrington, Ashley Moquin, Bethany Matthews, Blood Doctor Kelly, Chris Curry, Chris Mackey, Chris Peters, Cye Stoner, David Johnston, Eric Jensen, Friso, Garrett Galloway, J.V. Rosenbalm, Jaap Westera, Jacob Puthoff, Jason A Saslow, Jeremy Mattern, Jon Coffman, Joseph Ruf, Jp Lynch, Kevin Bealer, Kevin Knupp, Lyndsay Brown, Matt Curls, Piya Shedden, Shaji John, Steve Gums, Timos Gies, Toyas Dhake, yeyette ---------- Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet? SciShow Tangents Podcast: https://scishow-tangents.simplecast.com/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scishow Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishow Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/scishow.bsky.social #SciShow #science #education #learning #complexly ---------- Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQrfxF03dkI9m3MVqxnIJXP8BzjuZ7aJTc5i89-zMysbl2XDpJsSTbHR3N4qQz096AF5FItiLwvZpgu/pub