[1]: http://www.outsideonline.com/1926316/freezing-persons-recoll...

If you read a copy (unverified) [0] of the autopsy report, there's indications of violence. Falls might account for some of the reported injuries but not all of them.

[0] http://ermakvagus.com/Europe/Russia/Cholat-%20Syachil/dyatlo...

So what caused these injuries, and why did only some of the bodies have them?

This is the main mysterious part of the event for me.

And animals could also do further damage both after a fall, and in cases where falls are ruled out.

Felt pretty silly when I noticed a large herd of deer not far away the next day.

I suspect having more people with me would have made us react even more irrationally. I'm a pretty experienced hiker and generally fairly level headed....

We became increasingly nervous until it turned out that we'd camped on the wrong side of a fence and curious horses were approaching our campsite in their paddock. Probably didn't help that I had a childhood fear and recurring nightmares about horses. Later, we woke up to them licking the tent.

Unzipped the tent and took a look out. The sound was a bear ripping my cousin's backpack open. He did not leave any food inside, but had let some food touch the pack and left a scent.

I quickly closed the tent and let the rest of the group run the bear off.

It's a common argument with these things that the proposed explanation is improbable. I don't get it. We are looking at something improbable (otherwise it wouldn't be interesting in the first place), the question is just figuring out which improbable thing it is.

"Something" convincing 9 experienced outdoorsman to slice open their tent (why not open the door?) and flee is a pretty crazy story. Add the other things that don't easily fit a plausible explanation, and it's really interesting.

The hikers are awoken by some disturbance. They discuss among themselves briefly, and decide to go out--a few people start putting on shoes, while someone is attempting to open the tent door. Something spooks them, and they all panic and want out now. A convenient knife to the wall provides a faster exit point, and they run out and make for shelter of trees.

I have some experience hiking and backpacking, but the information given in the Wikipedia article is way too sparse for me to attempt to derive a coherent explanation. For example, there's no indication of where the clothing was located for those who were undressed; more importantly, there's insufficient explanation to posit when the group broke into the two who stayed at the tree, the three who tried to return, and the four who died in the ravine.

I think it's suggested that some might have taken clothes from those that froze to death, explaining those left naked. If some climbed trees and fell, or fell into a ravine, that could explain most of the injuries.

Yet even on this very page there are multiple "rational" explanations; different people with different suggestions involving more-or-less ordinary reasons.

That lack of consensus alone makes it odd.

"Why did X have an omelette for lunch?" Many possible, non-weird explanations.

I was saying this is most definitely an odd incident. It's certainly not routine. How many hiking trips do we know of which ended up like that?

You are being circular in your reasoning. The OP is saying that for an event that is not so odd or eventful, it receives a disproportionate amount of attention including its own Wikipedia article. He goes on to explain why it's not odd or eventful.

You're saying, "Of course it's odd and eventful! It has its own Wikipedia article."