Dead Mountain

The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident

By: Donnie Eichar

Narrated by: Donnie Eichar

Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

In February 1959, a group of nine experienced hikers in the Russian Ural Mountains died mysteriously on an elevation known as Dead Mountain. Eerie aspects of the incident—unexplained violent injuries, signs that they cut open and fled the tent without proper clothing or shoes, a strange final photograph taken by one of the hikers, and elevated levels of radiation found on some of their clothes—have led to decades of speculation over what really happened. This gripping work of literary nonfiction delves into the mystery through unprecedented access to the hikers' own journals and photographs, rarely seen government records, dozens of interviews, and the author's retracing of the hikers' fateful journey in the Russian winter. A fascinating portrait of the young hikers in the Soviet era, and a skillful interweaving of the hikers narrative, the investigators' efforts, and the author's investigations, here for the first time is the real story of what happened that night on Dead Mountain.

©2013 Donnie Eichar (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Mystery & Intrigue In The Ural Mountains

Eichar revisits and examines the unsolved, closed case of the deaths of nine hikers in February of 1959 in the Ural Mountains of Russia. This story has been the fodder of conspiracy theories and speculation for more than 50 years. The author explores the events first hand. He travels to Russia, retraces the journey, meets with family, and pieces together a picture that proposes a reasonable and highly likely scenario. However, the story is so compelling and filled with mystery it still left me wondering.

The author also narrates this book. This was not terrible--but sounded slightly monotone and dire in feeling. I increased the play back speed to 1.25 which helped perk things up a bit. I still had mixed feelings about this--a professional narrator might have been a better choice.

For me, this book was fascinating--not just because of the mystery--but because of the culture clash it presented. I really was intrigued by the author's look at Russia over the last 50-60 years and his fumbling attempts to communicate with and relate to people he met when he did not speak the language. A bold choice and an engaging book.

A Good Creepy Mystery

I had come across this story on a couple of occasions but had very little information on it and was so glad to have located this book while browsing Audible. It's the true story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident and the inexplicable deaths of nine experienced hikers. It's one of those strange but true tales that leaves a person shuddering. Speculation and theories surround the mystery of what happened to make them leave the security of their tent, in subarctic temps, scantily clad, and which ultimately brings them to their death.

The book was well researched and fascinating. But, this is Eichar's (the author) take of what he suspects happened to them, and is not completely concrete. I'll stop there to not get into spoiler territory.

Overall: This was one of those books that had me totally engrossed and when finished spent an hour researching the Internet for photos of the mountain and places named in the book. The narrator was perfect, and had the "documentary" type of voice. It reminded me of a voice you'd hear on NPR.

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Amazing Story

Whoa. You will never in a million years see this coming. Fascinating true mystery - if you like those things (I do!), you'll love this. Only downside is the author's rotten narration - almost made me give up, he's so monotone. But the story is worth it - hang in there. I still see the hikers in my mind and can't imagine how terrifying their last night must have been.

Always a sucker for unsolved mysteries!

I breezed through this book in record time. It seems I still can't resist an unsolved mystery.

This true story fascinated me and at no time did I find it boring, like several other reviewers. I found the details haunting and frightening--I can't even begin to imagine what those 9 hikers went through before their terrifying deaths. This is a creepy, mysterious true event that defies logical explanations. Whatever the actual cause was, it necessarily has to be as weird and strange as the manner in which the 9 hikers died. This is why I think the author has posited a reasonable explanation as to what actually happened. His unexpected explanation makes sense and certainly is plausible. However, I believe that no one will ever know for sure the events of that fateful night.

I have mixed feelings about Donnie Eichar doing his own narration. He most likely has no previous experience narrating an audiobook and this was obvious. In parts, it felt like he was just reading someone else's pages with little or no expression. On the other hand, I got a feel for his earnestness and for who he really is. I could see that this mystery tied him up in knots and wouldn't let go until he did what he could to investigate what really happened to the hikers. I don't think a professional narrator, someone who was perhaps older and more mature, could have really conveyed the real Donnie. So, this is a case in which I won't complain about an author reading his own book. While it certainly wasn't the best narration, it served a useful purpose for me.

Over all, this was an intriguing listen and I will be thinking about it in bed at night for a long while.

The Dyatlov Pass Incident is always interesting!

Would you listen to Dead Mountain again? Why?

Yes, I would listen to it again. I like the topic and the time period during which the incident happened. Listening to the book takes me away to that time.

Which scene was your favorite?

The theory put forth at the book's end was the most interesting for me, as well as his description of the groups last couple hours of life.

Any additional comments?

I have lived in Russia for over 15 years and the last 5 years in the Urals. The only thing I did not like was the author's naive comments/view of Russia. For example, in 2012, you could definitely photograph anything you wanted in the Yekaterinburg train station. He paints a typical naive picture of Russia and its residents. Often people here do not live just to go to 'fast-food' restaurants (i.e. food from Sysco cans, soup from powder, everything frozen and fried) and super WalMart. You feel the everything in the USA is better attitude and not a real interest and appreciation for different cultures.

Needed a professional narrator

Donnie Eichar has written an interesting book about a true modern day mystery. I normally don't like books that skip around in time, but this one works, blending his modern day experiences in Russia with those of the Dyatlov party and the later rescue expedition. I like that he investigates a lot of possible explanations but doesn't give any but the briefest mention to fringe theories like a Yeti or space aliens. I find the new theory that he posits at the end to be very credible.

However, the book is ruined by his pedestrian narration. You would think a writer reading his own stuff would come off as conversational, but this guy sounds like he is just reading words on a paper that he had never seen before. Surely an editor or producer somewhere down the line was aware of his poor performance. Everything is read in a very flat voice and there is generally a pregnant pause before he s-l-o-w-l-y tackles Russian surnames, of which, you can imagine, there are a lot of in this book. It's not un-listenable; I've heard worse, sad to say, but the book would have been SO much better with a professional narrator, someone like Bronson Pinchot perhaps, who could easily manage the Russian names.

BTW, sometimes a writer can also be a good narrator - listen to Linda Tirado's "Hand to Mouth" if you want to hear a great example.

Fascinating and compassionate investigation

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely. Eichar carefully reconstructs a fascinating tragic mystery and works toward a solution with integrity and a solid awareness of his own limits. It's educational in the best way.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dead Mountain?

The vivid recreations of the lives of these Soviet students of the '50s, particularly the various ways music played such a large part in their individual and shared experiences.

What about Donnie Eichar’s performance did you like?

Hearing the Russian and scientific terms pronounced right.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was very moved, appreciative of Eichar's interest in getting real answers and sympathetic to the conclusion he reaches about the calamity that overwhelmed the Dyaltov party.

Any additional comments?

Eichar's reading is very conservative in emotional terms - sometimes too flat and restrained. I get the sense that he strongly wants to avoid sensationalism, and I respect that, but it took a while for me to connect with the emotions as well as the data in his story.

Something Out There

Before coming across this audiobook, I’d never heard of the disappearance of Soviet students in the Ural Mountains known as Dyatlov Pass Incident, but the mystery reeled me in. It might as well be an idea for a Twilight Zone, or X-files script.

Nine young, healthy, experienced hikers set out on a trek through the Urals, set up camp, and then flee their tent without proper gear, or even their shoes. Their bodies are later found frozen and injured. Why did they leave?

Donnie Eichar, who narrates himself, wanted to know too, so he set out in their footprints to solve the riddle. His book offers an investigation that gives a heartbreaking portrait of these doomed hikers, the search for them afterwards, and his own inquiry.

His conclusions may not have settled all the questions surrounding the Dead Mountain incident, but the story getting there is as engrossing as any unsolved mystery.

Respectable Overview Of The Case

Dead Mountain is composed to two narratives: the 1959 story which reconstructs the hikers journey, disappearance, and attempted rescue; and the 2012 story which recounts Eichar's investigation into the case. Interspersed throughout are various tidbits about Donnie's own life, how schooling worked in the USSR, facts about Russian history, and other not-wholly-relevant tidbits that give the story a somewhat padded feel.

The best audience for this book are those who are new to the Dyatlov Pass case. Donnie Eichar should be given credit for presenting a solid overview of the case, but he doesn't go into the nitty-gritty. He comes up with a theory about the "unknown compelling force" which is rather intriguing.

The reading was fine, though it had a somewhat recited quality to it. Perhaps it would have been better if a professional had read it, but it's not like books of this sort lend themselves to showcasing vocal talent. This story is about the author as much as the mystery so I think his reading it was a good idea.

Engaging and Creepy

This examination of the Dyatlov pass was interestingly structured and had a good sense of immediacy. A hard thing to achieve in a book that looks at a 50 year old mystery. Although not as slick as a professional narrator, the author does an excellent job of narrating his own text. My one criticism is the ending. The skepticism that is sustained throughout the book falters rather badly at the end.

Intriguing story ruined by author's conclusions...

I was born in Russia in the 70s and lived there for 24 years and I have never heard of this story (author seems to claim it's popular one in Russia)

Nevertheless It was very intriguing and the author went to admirable lengths to cover it; done a lot of research, went to Russia twice and visited the place of the tragedy.

!!! Spoilers below !!!

However the ending of the book was most disappointing.

The author concludes that the deaths of the hikers must be caused by infrasound with tornadoes...
Seriously?!...
As a theory, fine if you must, but most convincing and simple explanation? Come on.
Is it possible? Yes, everything is possible (even Cossacks armed with infrasound guns and riding Yetis), but in no way is this a Reasonable theory/explanation.
The author himself writes that in experiment settings set Specifically to test effect of infrasound waves, firing "infrasound cannon", only 22% of test subjects reported discomfort.
Yet carries on to say that all 9 hikers (experienced, healthy and sober people) were effected, well above and beyond simple discomfort... Add to it vortex conveniently creating passing tornadoes and viola mystery solved.

There is no serious evidence of such phenomenons from large searching party. Even while visiting the place the author observed none of it.

It is ok to say that we can't know what really happened, what compelled 9 people to abandon the tent. There is no shame in that. But the author seems desperate to solve the mystery...

In the book the author distances himself from the "tinfoil hat brigade" yet ends up knocking on their door with great enthusiasm by the end of of it.

The last hour pretty much ruined the book for me. Shame really.

Good - certainly worth a guess!!!

Pretty intriguing really that someone might come up with an “infra-sound” conclusion. The book is good. The story about 9 missing “experienced” hikers in the Ural mountains of Russia back in the 50’s and during the cold war is something that I knew nothing about, but the title was enough to make me want to read on. And I am glad I did, because I enjoyed the book and the theories that the author came up with. Not only that, I am pretty convinced that the conclusions are very feasible and very probable. I could not think why – well, kids basically would be the target of any covert, cold war conspiracy, despite the story told within the pages which is laced with coincidences, bad luck and the harshness of mother nature. The only thing that spoilt the story (but only a little) was the author’s self-indulgence and although it is clear that he did make some great personal sacrifices to come to a good conclusion, I see how this could lead the reader/listener to conclude the story a bit unbelievable. I happen to think that it is far more likely than they were all done away with, i.e., followed on a dangerous mission by Soviet soldiers, spies, misfits (who!!!) to be viciously battered to near death for absolutely no reason whatsoever! Anyhow, the reader/author does a nice job of delivering the story and comes up with a damned good conclusion – good for him. Good story, I would recommend it.

Interesting, if a bit short

I'd been quite interested in this whole myth, legend, whatever you want to call it, for a while now. For those that don't know, basically a group of pretty experienced and competent hikers went out climbing near Siberia and didn't return. They were found in various states of undress, all dead, having left their tent in a hurry. But why?
Well, this book aims to explain it.
The narrator is quite good, although his voice can be a bit droning and ultimately it's a short book. That said, the main revelation, the reason why we're listening to this, could fit in half an hour so the other 6 hours is basically the author's tale of his journey retracing the hikers' steps.
And it's an interesting one, well told, really taking you along on the snowy ride with him.
His theory for what happened to the group makes perfect sense to me - better than UFO's or Yetis or KGB agents in my opinion. When you put yourself in their position and listen to what he thinks happened it really does seem like he's figured it out.

I managed to listen to this whole thing in one day, so that tells you two things: 1) it's short and 2) it's compelling listening.

Recommended!

Steven A. McKay, author of "Wolf's Head".

complete claptrap

Awful story, too much conjecture. Too many irrelevant characters. Waste of time and money if you ask me.

such a bad narrator

the book is interesting and all, the mystery is cool. I love unsolved things. but the narrator is HORRIBLE. he sounds so bored and like he wants to fall asleep and it affects the entire book. you stop caring because it becomes so dull. read the book physically if you're able to instead cause I dont recommend listening to it this way.

TOTALLY UNCONVINCING! (Occam's Razor)

Very captivating true mystery, thriller story.

However:

Totally unconvincing explanation of the deaths of the nine hikers. Attributed to an obscure physical phenomenon, which the author himself says had an effect on roughly 20% of the subjects in the experiment that he selects to bring up. One single experiment (not a study) and it only supposedly affected 20%. So even if this physical phenomenon did occur that night of 1959, how did it impact all nine hikers? If the probability to be affected is 20%, the probability that all nine out of nine subjects were affected is infinitesimal. And in addition how did a psycho/physio-logical effect, like the one that this phenomenon supposedly causes, "hit" all of them in perfect sync, causing them to flee the tent, more or less naked.

Moreover, the author offers very little information in disproving much simpler explanations. For the most part, he's like "I can rule this out, take my word for it". Not so fast. According to "Occam's Razor" the simplest explanation is usually the right one. And the explanation that he offers is one of the most exotic that have been offered, to put it mildly. Please do not believe anything you read.

And just to clarify: I would absolutely love a convincing scientific explanation, rather than the cliche "bad Russians" story. Unfortunately, this one is flimsy.

Finally, the story telling takes place with alternating chapters between the hikers story and the authors story researching the event. The latter are excruciatingly boring. You just hang on in there for them to end and turn to the actual event.

Excellent listen

Interesting and thoughtful adaption to the intensity of this mystery. Worthy of further research and study into perceived phenomenon.

Fascinating

Thoroughly enjoyed this listen. Very well narrated by the writer. The first theory that makes any sense. Highly recommend

Brilliant!

I was a bit put off by the delivery at first, but I got used to it and in the end it seemed quite appropriate for the matter in hand. I've listened to several books about the Dyatlov mystery but this is by far the best. It is thoroughly researched, well-told and debunks many of the earlier theories. The conclusion the author reaches is logical and the best most compelling yet. Very much recommended.

Compelling narrative, good writing, well read

hugely enjoyable.. the writing is pared, crisp, precise.. creative non-fiction at its best: characters and narrative vividly drawn, and the reading is smooth, and brings out the nuance and life of the journey.