Mountain of the Dead

Nine dead bodies
Fifty years
Zero answers

Fact: In February, 1959, nine Russian college students embarked on a ten day skiing expedition into the Ural Mountains. They never returned and were later found dead of disturbing and mysterious causes.

Because of the nature of the deaths, a criminal inquest was filed. As the facts developed, the circumstances and causes of death became more confusing and baffling. The official verdict, registered in 1959, stills stands, “death by unknown compelling force,” a vague and unsatisfying explanation for a scene of inexplicable and ultimately, horrific deaths. To this day, no one was ever charged with a crime.

A tribe of indigenous people, known as the Mansi, have lived in the vast Ural Mountains for centuries. The Mansi feared the mountain where the students had all died. The Mansi name for the mountain is Kholat Syakhl which translates to the mountain of the dead.

Mountain of the Dead is the fictionalized story of the events of 50 years ago, by writer, director Mike Wellins.