Just after I finally cleaned and waxed the skis for summer storage and figured it’s time to put the blog into hibernation, The New Yorker has a feature article about controversy and attempts to explain an ill-fated cross-country ski trip in the old Soviet Union:

Has an Old Soviet Mystery at Last Been Solved? by Douglas Preston

Dyatlov began planning a winter expedition that would exemplify the boldness and vigor of a new Soviet generation: an ambitious sixteen-day cross-country ski trip in the Urals

“Has an Old Soviet Mystery at Last Been Solved?”, The New Yorker May 17 2021 issue

Not to reveal too much of a spoiler, but avalanche safety and knowledge comes into it as well, and the desire to unwind the question of ‘how did this happen’?

The Urals are far distant from the Pamirs, but the Soviet-era toughness and bureaucracy, and the audacity of the party to undertake the journey reminds me a bit of “Storm and Sorrow in the High Pamirs” by Robert W. Craig. (American Alpine Club article).