you are now listening to cryptid cocktail party
Welcome back to Cryptid Cocktail Party. This
is a show where we have a few drinks, share a
few laps, and take a dive into the unknown. My
name is Sarge. Dave is still in Japan. Hopefully
they will allow him back into the country at
some point. But joining me as a co -host is Amanda.
Hello! Hello, Amanda. It's been a while since
you've been on. Happy to be back. And Cam is
going to join us a little bit later on today.
He's just running a little bit late, but... We're
under a time crunch. This is a big script. So
we're going to get right into things. Amanda,
how are you doing? I'm doing very well. Thank
you. Hey, Cam. Hey. Hey. Let's get back to it.
Cam, how familiar are you with Dyatlov Pass?
I've heard of it, but I'm not super familiar
with it. Okay. Well, that's okay because we're
not covering that. Amanda, how familiar are you
with Dyatlov Pass? Fairly familiar, but not.
Super familiar. Okay. The reason I ask is that
this story bears some adjacency, but it happened
a little bit later in life. So I'm sure it kind
of feels like millions of podcasts and YouTube
channels have covered the enduring mystery of
Dyatlov Pass. It occurred back in 1959. I'll
give you a quick summary. The story goes that
10 hikers went into the wilderness and only one
survived because he quit the trip before it even
started. He had gotten sick. While many theories
hover around the events of February 1st and 2nd,
1959, there was no definitive proof aside from
some 3D models and the fact that nine bodies
were found horribly mutilated in various states
of undress like they were taking part in some
kind of weird orgy in the middle of a train wreck.
The most likely culprit is a collection of incidents
such as avalanches and stormy weather. And all
of that accumulated in a tragic loss of life
and one of the most baffling mysteries of the
20th century. If you're familiar with the story
and you thought it was fucked up, hold on to
your hats. There's a sequel and it's every bit
as haunting as the original. Except this time
there was a witness. We're going to start at
the beginning. The year was 1993. Arkansas native
and sentient Big Mac extra value meal Bill Clinton
is inaugurated as America's 42nd president. And...
And... Due to human error, Russian nuclear power
plant Tomsk -7 in the secret city of Siversk
in Siberia experiences an explosion that led
to the surrounding towns being exposed to a hundred
times the normal level of background radiation,
continuing the grand tradition of Russia irradiating
its people, and then subsequently doing everything
possible to pretend it didn't happen. Victims
were later rewarded a life -changing $860 each,
which roughly works out to be one gallon of gasoline.
per cancerous tumor in today's money. Finally,
roughly 150 miles, 241 kilometers southeast of
the Dyatlov Pass, according to Google Maps, six
hikers would die suddenly and mysteriously while
hiking back down from the incredibly impossibly
hard to pronounce Reda Translator Peak in the
Kamar Daban mountain range. Now, this range is
not only popular. but extremely accessible to
tourists given its location. The range is thought
to be one of, if not the first range to be mapped
by humans, and was actually one of the first
to be written about in literature. Located in
the Pearl of Siberia, an area which is home to
roughly 20 % of the planet's fresh surface water,
according to an excellent YouTube video I found
from MercDocs. The video they have is called
the Khmer Dban Incident, and you should check
it out if you want to learn a little bit more
than what I'm going to cover today. So, there
was a group that was led by a 41 -year -old badass
named Ludmila Ivanova Korovina. She held the
title of sports master on pedestrian tourism,
which sounds completely made up. Ludmila was
known for her experience in physical toughness.
She specialized in wilderness survival and regularly
trained hikers in those life skills. Her reputation
was so prolific. that people would travel from
across Russia and the surrounding area to a tourist
club called Azamut, where Lyudmila was a guidance
teacher. There was reportedly some criticism
of Lyudmila. Peers would say that she was too
focused on survivalism when the situation didn't
call for it. She's probably the kind of person
who, like, you're out for a walk in a park and
you go to the bathroom and she insists you dig
a hole even though there's, like, a porta potty
with an eye shot. You know what I mean? She's
out there like hunting squirrels in the middle
of a street right next to a McDonald's. Anyway,
as a hiker myself, I knew people like this. One
hiker I knew would actually break the handle
of his toothbrush to reduce the weight in their
pack. However, this did not deter Ludmilla's
students who would travel long distances to work
with her again and again. The group would consist
of six young hikers, all nearly half Ludmilla's
age. The second oldest of the group was a man
named Alexander Sasha. He was age 23. All sources
that I found label him as less of a tourist and
more like Lyudmila's unofficial adopted son.
Then we have Tatiana Filippenko, age 24. Denis
Shvatskin, I think is the way to say that, at
age 19. Valentina Valya Utychenko, age 17. Victoria
Vika Zalasova, age 16. and Timur Bapanov, age
15. Lyudmila's group was one of three hiking
in the area at the time. One of the other groups
was led by Lyudmila's daughter Natalia, age 16.
This is important to note as Lyudmila actually
planned to hike for Natalia's group as well,
which was not uncommon for the club. Lyudmila
and her daughter's groups intended to meet up
during the hike where their paths were estimated
to cross on August 5th. I guess we could say
the plus side of this group compared to Dyatlov
Pass is at least these folks had the presence
of mind not to hike in the mountains in the wintertime.
The tentative plan was for both groups to join
forces and finish together. The weather for the
trip was supposed to be mild. They expected clear
skies, mild temperatures, and just to give you
an idea, the average temperature in the area
for August, usually around 60 Fahrenheit, 16
Celsius. However... anyone who has hiked in a
mountain range can tell you that the weather
can change quickly. While the average low in
the area is roughly 44 degrees Fahrenheit, the
record low for that time of year was 21 Fahrenheit
or negative 6 Celsius. It's also worth noting
the group is prepared for inclement weather as
rain is very common in that region at that time
of year. On average, there is 15 days of rain
for the month of August. Ludmilla was reported
to have meticulously followed the weather, but
with the internet in its infancy, It would have
been impossible for her to receive updates on
changing weather patterns along the way. The
hike started on August 1st or 2nd. The accounts
kind of differ. It was pretty uneventful for
two days. Most accounts say the group made good
time, summoning the highest peak in the range
earlier than expected. The same documentary that
I mentioned earlier, MercDocs, reports that the
group covered roughly 43 miles. which is really
fast for the terrain, which is moderately difficult,
sitting in the middle of like a one through five
difficulty scale used to rate the area. However,
everything would change on August 4th when the
weather made a drastic change for the worse.
A cyclone out of Mongolia descended on the group.
Some sources say the rain began to fall while
the group was still hiking, which soaked their
gear, adding weight and burning them out. Others
say the group was tired from the steady pace.
and set up camp before the rain. Historic weather
data for the region was not tracked until 1999,
so there's really no way for us to check for
sure. I mean, it could have been bad squirrel
meat, too. Yeah, yeah. Or maybe when they shit
in the hole, something crawled up. Yeah, it's
a valid possibility. It is Russia, so... Anything
can happen, especially when you're that close
to Mongolia. And this is a commonly... Traversed
trail? Yeah, very common. This whole area was
very commonly hiked, like very well -worn trails.
The pictures that I saw, there wasn't even a
lot of tree cover. So anyway, regardless of the
conditions, the location where they camped was
very unusual, given Lamila's veteran status.
They stopped in a relatively flat area. but it
was between two peaks and a gradually sloping
ridgeline. The elevation at this spot was about
7 ,500 feet by 2 ,300 meters above sea level.
So let me explain something. Traditionally, seasoned
hikers do not camp above the alpine zone unless
you're on like a mountain where you're trying
to go further up. So like with Everest, of course,
you would camp above that. Is that because of
the... Air? Like the density of the air and whatnot?
That's part of it, but the other part of it is
there's nothing to protect you from the weather.
Oh, okay. That makes sense. Yeah. The Alpine
Zone is an area on a mountain above the tree
line but below the snow line. Within this buffer,
vegetation is either non -existent or short.
It's hardy fauna that can withstand limited growing
season and a harsh, unforgiving climate. The
Alpine Zone, it's not the same everywhere. It
differs depending on where in the globe you are.
For instance, in New Hampshire, in the White
Mountain Range, the Alpine Zone starts at 4 ,400
feet. There's not a lot of mountains in New Hampshire
that are above the Alpine Zone, honestly, because
as we've covered in previous episodes, the Appalachian
Mountain Range is very short because it's so
old. So we don't have a lot of mountains that
are above 4 ,400 feet. But in the Himalayas...
It is about 12 ,100 feet, 3 ,700 meters. In Siberia,
the alpine zone begins around 7 ,000 feet. Okay.
Any hikers looking to survive a night in a mountain
will opt for below the tree line. This is done
to provide a bit of cover from the elements and
a buffer to minimize wind. Also, the biggest
threat in the summertime is thunderstorms. Think
about it this way. If you're the tallest thing
in the area, you're most likely to get struck
by lightning. So I can't understand her logic.
I would never camp on a mountain out from undercover
unless it was an emergency. Because if the wind
doesn't get you, the bolts of superheated electricity
sure as fuck will. Now some sources speculate
that Lamila's over -the -top survivalism led
her to set up in this area as a way to teach
her students. Stupid. It was really fucking stupid
if that was the plan. This theory makes sense
for two reasons. First, the tree line was only
about two miles away. You could literally see
it. It was very easy to get to. That would have
been like a 30 -minute hike with these guys,
and you'd be relatively safe. Second, people
familiar with the area say that on a nearby peak,
there was a shelter complete with dry firewood
for just such a turn in winter, such a turn in
the weather. And this shelter was only 30 minutes
away. A second theory suggests that Ludmilla
intentionally set up camp on this ridgeline so
she would not lose time as she was expected to
meet her daughter the next day. I don't want
to speculate on either theory too much, because
I don't know what she was thinking, but if true,
either plan would have been a terrifically fucking
stupid idea. As you might recall from the theories
that you might have heard on Dyatlov Pass, this
kind of risky behavior rarely ends well. What
do we think so far? I think that she, to me,
maybe she was so confident with her abilities
and knowing that trail that she wouldn't have
thought that she needed to go out of her way,
especially if she didn't know what weather was
coming. That's really good insight, actually.
Yeah. Confidence is usually what kills people.
I think the goddamn kids wouldn't listen and
she was hoping that she could pick a couple off.
If you don't behave yourself, I'm going to turn
this mountain around. So as night progressed,
the weather took a turn for the worse. It was
already pretty bad. Located in the area where
two climate zones meet. So the formation of cyclones
isn't common, but isn't rare either. All accounts
I found, six different sources, related to drop
in temperature, thunder, and even snowfall in
the night. The wind picked up rapidly, stretching
the limits of their tent. These harsh conditions
prohibited them from making a fire, but the group
was still in good spirits despite the weather.
Because they're Russians, I mean, shitty life
is pretty normal. The next morning at 4 a .m.,
August 5th, the group woke up to damaged tents
and wet sleeping bags. In an effort to get out
of the conditions, the group lit a fire, ate
breakfast, and set out to meet Natalia and her
group. Just prior to leaving, Alexander would
complain about not feeling well. but believed
getting moving down the trail would help his
condition. This is not uncommon for hikers. I
know that many times I've woken up after a full
day of hiking with general soreness and discomfort,
only to feel great after maybe moving around
for about an hour. So later on the 5th, Natalia
made her way to the proposed meeting spot. She
waited for a bit, but with no sight of her mother,
Natalia assumed they were held up. by the weather
and moved along. She later left the area and
returned home. Nothing would be heard from the
group until August 10th when kayakers on the
Anikta River would see a bloodied young woman
standing alone on the shore. The woman on the
shore was Valentina and her story was remarkable
and terrifying. Valentina said things started
to go wrong almost right after they hit the trail.
The weather had only gotten worse since they
had woken up, and the conditions were miserable.
As you can imagine, the soreness of a long hike,
coupled with being woken up by freezing rain
and wind, the group was in rough shape and moved
really slowly. After more than one mile, two
kilometers, Alexander, also known as Sasha, at
the rear of the group began to scream. Valentina
says that Alexander was literally frothing at
the mouth and bleeding from his ears. Some accounts
say he was also bleeding from the mouth and eyes.
Ludmilla would immediately tend to Alexander
and tell the others to continue down the trail
led by Dennis and Timur. At only 15, Timur was
actually one of the more experienced hikers,
so it wasn't unusual. Though it might sound that
way by having a 15 -year -old lead the group.
Did they maybe eat something? I don't know. I
mean, it's Russia at 15. You're reaching the
end of the life at that point in time. He's already
got 36 kids. He's been drinking vodka for 10
years. He's had a potato farm for most of his
life. Okay, so accounts differ on the reason
why, but the group immediately set out, but then
returned shortly after. Some say it was because
they were scared, while others say it was because
Lumila called them back. When they reached Ludmilla,
they saw Alexander's condition had worsened.
He had become unresponsive, and Ludmilla insisted
that Valentina and Victoria go into the woods.
Oh, okay. Yeah, right? For what? I have no idea.
Victoria was the least experienced hiker in the
group, and Ludmilla almost decided against taking
her due to the lack of time on the trail and
her habit of loudly complaining. Frankly, I think
she made a mistake. I also would have left her
home. This is worth noting because of what happens
next. Victoria begins acting erratically. Valentina
tried to get Victoria to follow, but Victoria
would actually start biting Valentina. Undeterred,
Valentina resorted to pulling Victoria by her
hair. Valentina eventually gave up and once again
returned to the spot where Alexander was now
laying dead. Nearby, Tatiana was doubled over,
literally bashing her own head against some rocks.
Timur started grasping at his own throat as if
suffocating. Dennis tried to restore order by
getting supplies together, but Valentina would
note that he quickly dropped the supplies on
the ground and fell over. Dennis would then begin
to try to pull off his clothing. Valentina would
try to help him, but he kicked and he thrashed
at her. As panic sets in, so did the symptoms.
Some ran away and hid behind rocks while others
retreated to their sleeping bags. Valentina reported
that all six group members bled from their ears
and frothed at the mouth. What do you think so
far? It's a cliffhanger. They were pulling their
clothes off at a Dyatlov Pass as well, though.
Well, that was because of hyper -throwing. Nobody
knows if they... So what can happen in an avalanche
is that your clothes will be taken off of you
involuntarily by the avalanche. So it could be
a case of paradoxical undressing in Dyatlov Pass,
or it could have been that they were disrobed
by the avalanche. Or it could have also been
the aliens. Yeah, or a train wreck orgy. We just
can't say for sure. We need answers. So I've
got some direct quotes from the website that
I didn't know is what it's called. Dennis began
to hide behind stones and run away. Tatiana beat
her head against the stones. Victoria and Timur
probably went astray. Lyudmila Ivanova died of
a heart attack. After some time, two girls fall
at once. They start rolling, tearing their clothes,
grabbing their throats. The symptoms are the
same. The boy is falling behind them. The girl
and the guy are left. They decide to leave the
most necessary things in the backpack and run
down. The girl leaned over her backpack while
she laid out, lifts her head. The last guy with
the same symptoms rolls on the ground. The night
was spent under a stone on the edge within the
forest zone. The trees were falling nearby like
matches. In the morning, she rose back. From
what I understand, this was a quote from one
of the police officers. Seeing that the situation
was well and truly fucked at this point, Valentina
ran for the trees with limited supplies. She
eventually fell asleep. When she awoke, she returned
to the group to get supplies. Sources say she
knew they were dead before she even saw the bodies
based on the condition when she left them. Again,
I don't want to get too deep into speculation
as Valentina has been notorious for her silence
on the event due to the trauma she endured. But
I wonder if she said she knew they were dead
because of the guilt she felt in leaving the
group the day before. I can only imagine how
horribly this poor girl felt watching her friends
die in such a horrible way. A Russian translator
would later say that Valentina reportedly did
everything possible to avoid looking at the dead
while she gathered supplies from their lifeless
bodies. Now, Amanda, you had mentioned had they
eaten something. One thing I forgot to say is
they all ate the same things. And Valentina is
the one who got away, right? She had no symptoms?
Yeah, she's the one who got away. She's the one
that was bloody by the river? Okay. Why was she
bloody if she missed? We'll get to that. There's
still a little bit more. Okay. I don't want to
give my theory on Valentina. Okay. We're almost
there. Valentina eventually found power lines
and began to follow them until they ended. She
then followed the river, hoping to find civilization.
It would be about five days from the incident
for Valentina to finally be rescued. Police wouldn't
find the bodies until... either the 21st or 26th
due to weather conditions. Reports say that the
bodies were bloated in various states of undress,
very similar to Dyatlov Pass. Animals had also
started to eat the bodies in a startlingly similar
condition as the victims of Dyatlov. The victims
were missing their eyes and their tongues. That's
not as uncommon as you think. Animals tend to
go for the softer tissue first, so eyes, tongue,
face, all that kind of stuff. autopsy reports
are absurd in relation to Valentina's testimony.
Ludmila's cause of death was listed as heart
attack. The remaining dead were deemed to have
died from hypothermia. I have learned a lot about
hypothermia through my time in the Boy Scouts,
my time in the military, and I've never once
heard of bleeding from the ears or eyes as symptoms.
The autopsy also listed burst lungs. Oh, bruised
lungs. I'm sorry, my spelling is terrible. The
autopsy also listed bruised lungs and a protein
deficiency. Some conditions can expedite the
onset of hypothermia, according to the Mayo Clinic.
These would be exhaustion, older age, young age,
like children, mental problems, like dementia,
alcohol and drug use. and certain medical conditions
and medications. So all of those are out because
they're all different ages. Yep. They were all
pretty young and healthy. Even Ludmilla, I mean,
I think she was only in her late 40s, I think
I said. So it just doesn't, it doesn't, the age
is out. Exhaustion would make sense. Yeah, but...
Alcohol, maybe, but I don't think that they were,
like, getting shit -faced. I've been exhausted
before. I didn't bleed for my life. Yeah, only...
Yeah. Like, one or two bottles each. You know,
they're doing some light drinking. So, I have
spoken with a friend of mine who is a seasoned
EMT and currently is the assistant superintendent
of Boston EMS. She's no stranger to hypothermia
cases, and when I asked her if she had ever heard
of hypothermia leading to bleeding from the head
via the eyes and ears, she said a change in altitude
could have played a factor. I also have a friend
who is a nurse, and she confirmed this. The condition
is called barotrauma, which is sudden bleeding
from the ears and sometimes eyes caused by a
rapid change in altitude. Now, on its own, it
may not have been a factor. caused because of
high elevation. Even over a 24 -hour span that
can cause hypoxia or more red blood cells, which
can cause weaker -than -usual clotting. However,
altitude changes coupled with thinner blood from
being cold and wet for roughly 24 hours could
possibly explain the bleeding. Another thing
to think about is shunting. This is when the
body draws blood away from the extremities to
warm vital organs like the heart and the brain.
More blood in the head could explain more pronounced
bleeding than that Valentina described. The somewhat
excessive bleeding could have then led to panic
and shock. Shock could then have led to paradoxical
undressing because when the body experiences
shock, it could be tricked into feeling warm,
even though it was actually going in the opposite
direction. Okay. Disclaimer time. Please take
all of this with a big grain of salt. I'm not
a doctor. I'm just a moron. The two people that
I spoke to were very good at their jobs, but
they only had my simple brain explaining the
circumstances in a short article I sent, which
highlighted the symptoms. You're certainly not
diagnosing anyone. All I'm saying is there probably
isn't an easy answer, much like Dyatlov Pass,
or rather a collection of circumstances that
accumulated possibly into the symptoms that Valentina
reported. Wouldn't it be terribly insensitive
of me to... suggest possibly another view? No.
Which is that Valentina is a shapeshifter. She
wrecked her whole party and in order to get away
with it, described all of these symptoms, no
one could question her because she won't talk
about it. Because she's a shapeshifter, you're
saying? I'm saying. Why would she kill everyone?
When she's in her other form, she is not human.
She doesn't have human emotions. So she has werewolf
emotions, maybe? It's not even supernatural.
That's just kind of something that happens. Yep.
Sometimes people become werewolves. When you're
in the woods. What are you going to do? What
are you going to do? You fucking solved it. I
mean, obviously I'm just kidding. Yeah, of course.
Clearly it was Yetis. But yeah, this is a crazy,
crazy story and it really doesn't get a lot of
attention. I've never heard of this. So you did
not explain why she was bloody. Oh. I'm sorry,
I might have skipped over it by accident. She
had to hike down by herself and she was lost
in the woods and in considerable shock from what
she experienced. So she was just wandering through
the woods. She actually found power lines and
then followed the power lines along the riverbank.
And actually what happened is she found a village
and when she got to the village, she thought
she was saved until she realized that it was
abandoned. Oh, well, that would suck. Yeah, but
then the kayakers found her and rescued her.
So I'm sure she had some blood from the various
bites she received and everyone's bodies when
she was like gathering supplies. And then she's
probably just got tore up going through the brush.
Yeah, I mean, being a werewolf didn't help me.
I mean, I imagine you're going to get bloody.
If you are werewolfing, it's a messy business.
All right, guys. So that's the story. Incredibly
insane story. If you want to know more, look
up Merck Docs, the Kamar Dabin incident on YouTube.
That's M -E -R -C Docs. I also checked Medical
News Today, Encyclopedia .com, Thought Catalog.
I even found a Russian website called Ariel Ter.
I'm just going to post these links in the Wikipedia.
They're all made up words. Strange Outdoors.
A website called That I Did Not Know. And the
Cleveland Clinic. So there's all kinds of stuff
here. But yeah, that's all I got. If you like
this, please find us on Instagram at Cryptid
Cocktail Party. Amanda, you want to share your
Instagram? Oh, yeah. I'm Tattered Seafoam. And
that's all one word. All right. And Cam, you
got anything to promote besides Narragansett?
Yeah, my friends, a bunch of my friends are in
a band called the Salem Wolves. They just released
a new album. It's a covers EP. And it's called
Salem Wolves Greatest Hits because it's a covers
EP. And all the songs are great. And I did background
vocals on a few of them. So check them out, the
Salem Wolves. They're freaking amazing. And if
you're in New England, they're going to be touring
all over the place. And I will buy you beers
because I go to all the shows. And we will drink
for net and gansets and have a good time. After
the Pride Parade incident, I'm good on Fernette
for the rest of my life. Fair enough. All right.
Also, drink the Arrogant's at Beer. They're our
sponsor, and we love them very much. All right.
I love you and goodbye is up to you guys. Do
you want to do the countdown? Yeah, let's do
that. All right. Okay. Three, two, one, go. I
love you and goodbye. Oh, fuck. Oh, son of a
bitch.