trail of lights essay contest

Austin Trail of Lights in USA Today 2021 Readers' Choice contest

Austin trail of lights included in usa today readers' choice contest.

For the fourth year in a row, the Austin Trail of Lights is one of the publication's choices for Best Public Display of Holiday Lights.

AUSTIN, Texas - The 57th annual Austin Trail of Lights kicks off this weekend and you can help the event win a contest.

For the fourth year in a row, Austin Trail of Lights has been included in the USA Today's Readers' Choice contest for Best Public Holiday Lights. It's up against displays in San Diego, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Louisville, and more.

You can cast your vote for Austin by clicking here .

A look at the leaderboard as of 8:30 a.m. on November 26 has Austin in 6th place out of 20.

Voting runs through December 6 and you can cast your ballot once a day.

Celebrate holidays at drive-thru Austin Trail of Lights

It's the 57th edition of the event with more than two million lights illuminating Zilker Park. FOX 7 Austin's Tierra Neubaum has a look at what to expect this year.

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STARS at the Trail

STARS at the Trail is the Trail of Lights’ outreach program. STARS provides an unforgettable holiday experience to honor the service of organizations dedicated to improving the quality of life for people in the Austin community.  

This year, Trail of Lights invites qualifying 501(c)3 organizations to enjoy the Trail of Lights through one of the following STARS experiences:

Level 1 - The traditional onsite STARS Experience offers  a dedicated holiday party, a private tour of the Trail of Lights before it opens to public, and the opportunity to enjoy Trail activities (Santa's House, Candy Land, amusement rides, and more).

Level 2 - For organizations who would like to enjoy the Trail on their own schedule, you can apply for ZIP passes for groups of up to 50 people. If selected, you will receive limited parking, ZIP passes, cookies and cocoa in the Zilker Lounge, and tickets for amusement rides.

Level 3 - Organizations who would like to honor a larger and widespread group of members may qualify to receive free entry for your members on specific nights. Young attendees must be accompanied by adults.

The Stars at the Trail Level 1 experience  takes place on December 4, 5 and 6, and the Trail of Lights is open to the public December 8-23. Complete the application for your organization to be considered for the STARS program by October 20.

The Trail wants to honor your efforts and members, so please tell us about your mission and how you would like to enjoy the Trail. Contact Jessica Pyrdsa with any questions about the program at [email protected]. 

• Organization Name *
• Organization Website *
• Organization Address * Street Address Street Address Line 2 City State / Province Postal / Zip Code
• Business Phone *  - Area Code Phone Number
• Primary Contact Name * First Name Last Name
• Primary Contact Cell Phone Number *  - Area Code Phone Number
• Primary Contact Email * [email protected]
• Organization Mission Statement *
• Age of constituents served by your organization *
• Ethnicities of constituents served by your organization *
• Region served by your organization *
• Average income of families served by your organization *
• Number of people currently served by your organization *
• Hi-res logo * Browse Files Cancel of
• Select the type of STARS experience for which you are applying. * Level 1 - Private, guided STARS at the Trail Experience on Dec 4, 5, or 6 Level 2 - ZIP Tickets for up to 50 members Level 3 - GA Tickets for a larger, widespread group of members
• Please tell us why you are applying to join STARS at the Trail this year. *
• How may total attendees will participate in the STARS experience? * The program can accommodate groups of up to 100 people total. Organizations must bring one adult escort for every 10 minors.
• Age of attendees participating in the STARS experience? *
• Does your organization participate in any other holiday activities? If so, please tell us about them. *
• Does your organization have insurance coverage? If so, what is your policy coverage? *
• Do any participants have special needs or accommodations?  *
• The STARS at the Trail Level 1 experience will take place on the evenings of December 4, 5, or 6. Please list any time restrictions your organization may have. *
• If selected to join STARS at the Trail, would your organization participate in any Trail of Lights press activities?  *
• Are there any privacy or security restrictions of which we should be aware (no, photos, etc)? *
• Does your organization own and operate transportation vehicles? If so, would your organization provide transportation to and from the Trail on your scheduled night? *
• Any other limitations, concerns, or requests? *
• If selected to join STARS at the Trail, each organization will be asked to support outreach efforts at the Trail of Lights, including the Grand Opening writing contest, performance opportunities, volunteer opportunities, and other programs. Please indicate how your organization can participate in highlighting the STARS at the Trail and other Trail of Lights activities. * Participate in the AISD writing contest for 3rd grade Distribute information about participation as a Trail of Lights STARS organization program to digital audiences Participate in media efforts about the STARS program Distribute information about Trail of Lights volunteer opportunities to your volunteer network We'll participate in all of the above

Click the "submit" button below and your application to join will be complete. You will receive a response by early November. Thank you for your interest in joining! 

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University Interscholastic League

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Academic Contests

Uil essay contests.

• Contest Materials
• Current Issues & Events
• Essay Contests
• Literary Criticism
• Ready Writing
• Social Studies
• Spelling & Vocabulary

Essay Contests Contact Info

Essay Contests Assistant Director: Lisa Parker

Department Phone: 512-471-5883

UIL Academics is proud to sponsor two essay competitions that provide exciting opportunities for students to explore the contributions of historically underrepresented groups to the history and culture of Texas. With a focus on original research and the use of primary sources, students are encouraged to look to their own communities in finding topics for their essays.

Both competitions are open to all students in grades 9-12 attending UIL member high schools. All entries submitted according to contest guidelines will be evaluated by experienced judges. State finalists will be selected from the entries submitted for each competition. Students selected as state finalists will be considered for state awards and have the opportunity to have their work added to the historical record of the state of Texas. All students selected as state finalists will also become eligible to apply for TILF scholarships; the TILF program provides dozens of scholarship opportunities each year.

Specific guidelines for entries are provided on the page for each competition as specified below.

Barbara Jordan Historical Essay Competition

Founded in 1995 as an event sponsored by The University of Texas at Austin, the Barbara Jordan Historical Essay Competition moved to its new home with UIL Academics in 2011-2012. The competition provides students an opportunity to explore the contributions of African Americans to Texas history, as well as honoring the legacy of its namesake, Barbara Jordan. The theme of the competition is "African Americans in Texas: Past and Present."

Latino History Essay Competition

Founded in 2011 as an event sponsored by The University of Texas at Austin, the Latino History Essay Competition has found a new home with UIL Academics beginning with the 2012-2013 school year. In its initial year the competition was open to students in South Texas; beginning with 2012-2013 entries will be accepted from students statewide. The theme of the competition is "historical and cultural legacies of Latinos in Texas history."

BJHE Competition Home

2024 BJHEC Results

• Latino History Essay Competition

LHE Competition Home

2024 LHEC Results 

Download Promotional MATERIALS

• Barbara Jordan Historical Essay Competition 

previous state finalists

Do512 Family - What to do in Austin with Kids

Everything you need to know about the 60th annual trail of lights.

It’s nearly time to hear those sleigh bells jingling at the 60th Annual Trail of Lights !  This beloved Austin tradition will be lighting up Zilker Park from December 10-23, so grab your tickets and get ready to immerse yourself in the holiday spirit.

 Austin’s Trail of Lights welcomes hundreds of thousands of guests each year, is powered by H-E-B, and has  been voted “10 Best Public Display of Holiday Lights” by USA Today for several consecutive years.  The event features more than two million lights , 90 lighted holiday trees , and 70+ other displays and lighted tunnels.

Ticket Options The Trail of Lights has theme nights and FREE nights, and you can check out your ticket options below, as well as a full event calendar here .  Check this page for even more info on ticket options.

• Budget Friendly. You can take your whole family with General Admission tickets that range from $0 – $8 depending on the night.  This option includes access to the Trail of Lights, free photos with Santa, and more! Free Admission Nights are Dec. 10 – 13, and16 – 18.   Free Admission Nights are when no reserved ticket is needed — you’ll simply show up, walk in, and see the lights. Please keep in mind that free nights tend to be the most crowded.  Children 11 and under are always free to enter with a ticketed adult.
• Early Access. Beat the crowds with a  ZIP Pass , which offers early access (6 pm) and an exclusive entrance. ZIP guests also receive access to the ZIP Lounge Area in Candy Cane Lane near the beginning of the Trail. At the Lounge you will find complimentary holiday cookies, cocoa, comfortable seating, heated washrooms, a bar, and ideal proximity to the first group of food trucks. ZIP passes are $25 and sponsored by Perry Homes. ZIP Passes are a favorite of families and small groups, especially on busier nights at the Trail. Children 5 and under receive free ZIP access with a ticketed ZIP adult.
•  VIP.  For the ultimate Trail of Lights experience, the purchase of a Platinum Pass gets you 6 pm early access, valet parking for one vehicle, concierge customer service onsite, golf cart shuttle access to Trailhead, access to a private Platinum Lounge with comfortable seating, and an exclusive bar.  Platinum Passes start at $95 depending on group size, and include one drink ticket and one ride ticket for expedited entry to the Ferris wheel or carousel.  Children 5 and under receive free Platinum access with a ticketed Platinum adult.
• Preview Party. If you want to be one of the first people to see the Trail of Lights, consider purchasing tickets to the Annual Night Lights Preview Party on Friday, Dec. 6, presented by Broadway Bank. Attendees will enjoy live music, Ferris wheel and carousel rides, complimentary beverages, and delicious bites from beloved Austin restaurants on this exclusive night. Tickets are $100 per person and can be purchased here .  Tickets are required for ages 6+. Children under 6 are free with an adult.
• Fun Run. The Trail of Lights Fun Run takes you through the Austin Trail of Lights on Saturday, Dec. 7 before it officially opens to the public. You’re welcome to dress up in a jolly holiday costume, and stroll, run, or walk the trail, and then stick around for the ultimate after-party, the Finish Line Festival . This all-ages party includes cocoa or beer, free photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, the Ferris wheel and carousel rides, as well as a dance party, and costume contest.  Get more info on pricing and registration here .

Purchase any of these ticket options online here .  

Parking.  When attending an event with kids, the parking situation is super-important. Trail of Lights sells limited pre-paid Parking Passes online only for $25 per vehicle, from Dec. 10 – 23. Get yours here .

Shuttles . The shuttle will run from Burger Center on select nights. (Parking at Burger Center is FREE). Shuttle passes are $8 per person, which also includes the General Admission Entry Fee to the trail. 

Looking for more?   Follow Austin Trail of Lights on Facebook , Instagram , and X (and don’t forget to tag your photos #atxlights)! You can also visit the Trail of Lights website . 

1 thought on “Everything You Need to Know About The 60th Annual Trail Of Lights”

Can’t wait to see it with my family

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These 11 Essay Contests with Generous Prizes Will Change Your Life

Table of Contents

Essay contests are unusual because to win them you have to use your words. If you are a student who aspires to become a journalist, novelist, or poet, then these essay contests are a stepping stone for you to make that dream a reality.

Essay contests often ask participants to answer a question in the most original and obvious way. However, each contest will have its own rules and regulations to fulfill. You may have to write an essay on a specific topic and meet word count limits. To enter an essay contest, you must have the ability to write something fresh.

There are several essay contests that are valid for students of all levels of education regardless of nationality. As long as you meet the specified requirements, you may register for one or more of the following essay contests.

1. FIRE Free Speech Essay Contest

FIRE is an organization that aims to defend and sustain individual rights at America’s colleges and universities. These rights include freedom of speech, legal equality, due process, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience—the essential qualities of individual liberty and dignity.

In this contest, you will be asked to write an essay or persuasive letter in 700 to 900 words on the theme of current events, historical examples, your personal experiences, and other resources posted on the FIRE website. Registration for this contest closes on December 31 st , 2020 at 11:59 a.m. EST.

Who should apply?

Open to juniors and seniors in U.S. high schools, including home-schooled students, as well as U.S. citizens attending high school overseas.

What are the prizes of this contest?

One $10,000 first-place prize, one $ 5,000 second-place prize, three $1,000 third-place prizes, and four $500 prizes will be awarded.

2. Ayn Rand Institute Essay Contests

Have you ever read one of Ayn Rand’s thought-provoking novels? Now’s the time! Enter an Ayn Rand Institute essay contest and you’ll have a chance to win thousands of dollars in scholarship prize money.

ARI has held worldwide essay contests for students on Ayn Rand’s fiction for more than thirty years, awarding over $2 million in total prize money! To enter this contest, choose one of the three works of Ayn Rand fiction below and decide what theme you will cover in your essay by answering one of the questions posed on the essay contests web page.

• The Fountainhead
• Atlas Shrugged

You must sign up as a member of the ARI website to find out the deadlines for the contest.

These essay contests are available for students who are interested in Ayn Rand’s work ranging from grade eight students to postgraduate students. Please note that, however, the eligibility for each contest is different.

Total prizes to be awarded to the winners are $30,000.

3. AFSA National High School Essay Contest

The United States Foreign Service—often referred to as America’s first line of defense—works to prevent conflict from breaking out abroad and threats from coming to our shores. Peacebuilders work on the ground to create the conditions for peace and resolve conflicts where they are most needed.

Successful essays will identify, in no more than 1,250 words, a situation where diplomats worked on a peacebuilding initiative with partners from the country/region in question, nongovernmental organizations, and other parts of the U.S. government, and then go on to analyze what characteristics and approaches made the enterprise a success.

The deadline for essay submission is April 5 th , 2021 at 11:59 p.m. EDT.

Students whose parents are not in the Foreign Service are eligible to participate if they are in grades nine through twelve in any of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories, or if they are U.S. citizens/lawful permanent residents attending high school overseas.

$2,500 will be awarded to the writer of the winning essay, in addition to an all-expense-paid trip to the nation’s capital from anywhere in the U.S. for the winner and his or her parents, and an all-expense-paid educational voyage courtesy of Semester at Sea. Runner-up receives $1,250 and full tuition to attend a summer session of the National Student Leadership Conference’s International Diplomacy program.

4. JASNA Essay Contests

Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) conducts an annual student essay contest to foster the study and appreciation of Jane Austen’s works in new generations of readers.

The 2021 Essay Contest topic is tied to the theme of our upcoming Annual General Meeting: “Jane Austen in the Arts.” It encompasses a wide variety of arts, including fine arts, performance arts, decorative arts, and crafts.

The deadline for the essay submissions is June 1 st , 2021.

Students and home-schooled students enrolled at the high school level during the contest year, students enrolled in at least six credit hours of course work at a junior college, college, or university during the contest year, and students enrolled during the contest year in at least three credit hours of graduate course work at a college or university leading to an advanced degree are encouraged to apply.

Membership in JASNA is not required to enter the contest.

JASNA awards scholarships to winners in each of the three divisions:

• First Place: $1,000 scholarship and free registration and two nights’ lodging for JASNA’s upcoming Annual General Meeting,
• Second Place: $500 scholarship,
• Third Place: $250 scholarship.

Winners and their mentors each receive a one-year JASNA membership. Besides, each winner receives a set of Norton Critical Editions of Jane Austen’s novels.

5. The Immerse Education Essay Competition

The Immerse Education Essay Competition provides the opportunity for students aged 13-18 to submit essay responses to a pre-set question relating to their chosen subject. The essay questions are pre-defined according to your age group and preferred subject. You are encouraged to tailor your essay response to reflect your interest in your chosen subject.

The application for the competition will be closed on January 5 th , 2021.

The essay contests are available to students of all nationalities who will be aged 13-18 during the summer of 2021.

First-place winners will be awarded a 100% scholarship to study their chosen subject with Immerse. There will be 10 first place winners across the Immerse Education Competitions. Runners up will be awarded partial scholarships of up to 70% to study their chosen subject with Immerse.

6. Fraser Institute Student Essay Contest

Showcase your ideas on public policy and the role of markets by entering this essay competition. Construct an essay exploring the importance of Joseph Schumpeter’s concept of creative destruction in understanding entrepreneurialism and economic progress in today’s world. You may choose to analyze a particular industry or business (during any time-period) as a case study to bolster your essay.

The essay submission for the contest will be closed on June 1 st , 2021.

This essay contest is open to high school, undergraduate, and postgraduate students.

$9,000 in cash prizes will be awarded $3,000 of this designated just for high school students. Winning essays may be published in Fraser Institute journals and authors will have the opportunity to experience the peer-review process.

7. Optimist International Essay Contests

This essay contest is sponsored by Optimist International to give young people the opportunity to write about their own opinions regarding the world in which they live. The approach can encompass a young person’s personal experience, the experience of their country, or a more historical perspective.

In addition to developing skills for written expression, participants also have the opportunity to win a college scholarship. The topic for the academic year of 2020-2021 is “Reaching your Dreams by Choosing Optimism”. All essay contests are held by early February.

Youth under the age of 19 as of October 1 st , 2020 (and is not enrolled as a degree seeking student of a post-secondary institution) in the United States, Canada, or the Caribbean are eligible for entry. There is no minimum age.

Winners have the opportunity to receive scholarships of up to $2,500.

8. 2021 We the Students Essay Contest

We the Students Essay Contest expects the participants to explore the relationship between equality and justice in an essay with 500 to 800 words. Applicants are encouraged to bring emotion, creativity, specific examples, and well-researched facts into what they write. The deadline for entry is April 15 th , 2021 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Students in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Armed Forces schools abroad, and students in United States territories are eligible to participate in the contest. In addition to going to school in a contested state, you must be in grades 8-12 and between the ages of 14-19.

A total of $7,500 will be awarded to the first winner. The second winner and honorable mentions will receive $1,500 and $500, respectively.

9. Student Essay Contest Sponsored by AWM and Math for America

To increase awareness of women’s ongoing contributions to the mathematical sciences, the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) and Math for America co-sponsor an essay contest for biographies of contemporary women mathematicians and statisticians in academic, industrial, and government careers.

The essays will be based primarily on an interview with a woman currently working in a mathematical sciences career. Essay submissions are open from December 1 st to February 1 st .

Participation is open to middle school, high school, and undergraduate students.

The winners (including honorable mentions) receive a monetary prize, a membership in the AWM, a certificate, and their name and affiliation published in the Newsletter for the AWM. Also, all of the essays are published online and the essay of the Grand Prize winner is published in the AWM Newsletter.

10. Civics Education Essay Contest

Every year, in honor of Law Day, NCSC hosts a Civics Education Essay Contest. The goal of the contest is to get students engaged and ponder the importance of civics at home and in the classroom. The contest question is based on the American Bar Association’s annual theme. ABA’s 2021 Law Day theme is “Advancing the Rule of Law Now.”  Submissions are due by 11:59 p.m. EST on February 26 th , 2021.

Students from grades three through twelfth are invited to enter these essay contests.

For the 9th-12th grade winners:

• One (1) First Place: $1,000
• One (1) Second Place: $500
• One (1) Third Place: $250

For the 6th-8th grade winners:

• One (1) First Place: $400
• One (1) Second Place: $200
• One (1) Third Place: $100

For the 3rd-5th grade winners:

• One (1) First Place: $300
• One (1) Second Place: $150

11. St. Gallen Symposium Global Essay Competition

Compete in this Global Essay Competition and be one of the top 100 contributors to qualify for all-expenses covered participation as a Leader of Tomorrow in the world’s premier opportunity for cross-generational debates: The St. Gallen Symposium. Submissions are due by  February 1 st , 2021, 11:59 p.m. last time zone (UTC-12).

However, if you are not a fan of essay contests, then this no-essay scholarship might interest you: Bold No Essay Community Scholarship: Easy Scholarship to Enter in 2020 .

To be eligible, you must be enrolled in a graduate or postgraduate program (master level or higher) in any field of study at a regular university and born in 1991 or later.

Win prize money of CHF 20,000 split amongst the three winners.

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Annual Essay Contest

2024 power to explore winners.

Thomas Liu, Rainie Lin, and Aadya Karthik's winning essays won them a trip to NASA's Glenn Research Center.

2024 Power to Explore Contest Winners

NASA announced the winners of the third annual Power to Explore Challenge , a national writing competition designed to teach K-12 students about the power of radioisotopes for space exploration.

The competition asked students to learn about NASA’s Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS), “nuclear batteries” the agency uses to explore some of the most extreme destinations in the solar system and beyond. In 250 words or less, students wrote about a mission of their own enabled by these space power systems and described their own power to achieve their mission goals.

“The Power to Explore Challenge is the perfect way to inspire students – our Artemis Generation – to reach for the stars and beyond and help NASA find new ways to use radioisotopes to power our exploration of the cosmos,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Entries were split into three groups based on grade level, and a winner was chosen from each. The three winners, along with a guardian, are invited to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland for a VIP tour of its world-class research facilities.

The winners are:

• Rainie Lin , Lexington, Kentucky, kindergarten through fourth grade
• Aadya Karthik , Redmond, Washington, fifth through eighth grade
• Thomas Liu , Ridgewood, New Jersey, ninth through 12 th grade

2024 Finalists

NASA selected nine finalists out of the 45 semifinalist student essays in the Power to Explore Challenge , a national competition for K-12 students featuring the enabling power of radioisotopes. Contestants were challenged to explore how NASA has powered some of its most famous science missions and to dream up how their personal “super power” would energize their success on their own radioisotope-powered science mission.

Entries were split into three categories: grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Every student who submitted an entry received a digital certificate and an invitation to the Power Up virtual event that announced the semifinalists. Students learned about what powers the NASA workforce to dream big and work together to explore.

Winners will be announced on April 17.

• Katerine Leon, Long Beach, CA ( Read the Essay )
• Rainie Lin, Lexington, KY ( Read the Essay )
• Zachary Tolchin, Guilford, CT ( Read the Essay )
• Aadya Karthik, Redmond, WA ( Read the Essay )
• Andrew Tavares, Bridgewater, MA ( Read the Essay )
• Sara Wang, Henderson, NV ( Read the Essay )

Grades 9-12

• Thomas Liu, Ridgewood, NJ ( Re ad the Essay )
• Madeline Male, Fairway, KS ( Read the Essay )
• Kailey Thomas, Las Vegas, NV ( Read the Essay )

2024 Semifinalists

NASA selected 45 student essays as semifinalists of its 2024 Power to Explore Challenge. The 2024 contest received 1,787 submitted entries from 48 states and Puerto Rico.

• Maryam Asif, Sarasota, FL
• Thashvi Balaji, Riverview, FL
• Yavuz Bastug, Peckville, PA
• Claire Bennett, La Grange, NC
• Ada Brolan, Somerville, MA
• Joseph Brown, Huntsville, AL
• Ashwin Cohen, Washington, D.C.
• Adara George, Lithia, FL
• Katerine Leon, Long Beach, CA
• Rainie Lin, Lexington, KY
• Connor Personette, Lakeland, FL
• Yash Rajan, Issaquah, WA
• Camila Rymzo, Belmont, MA
• Arslan Soner, Columbia, SC
• Zachary Tolchin, Guilford, CT
• Nithilam Arivuchelvan, Short Hills, NJ
• Nandini Bandyopadhyay, Short Hills, NJ
• Cooper Basi, Rocklin, CA
• Joshua Cheng, Rockville, MD
• Kaitlyn Chu, Mercer Island, WA
• Mayson Howell, Troy, MO
• Dhiraj Javvadi, Louisville, KY
• Aadya Karthik, Redmond, WA
• Subham Maiti, Bloomington, MN
• Meadow McCarthy, Corvallis, OR
• Elianna Muthersbaugh, Bluffton, SC
• Archer Prentice, Koloa, HI
• Andrew Tavares, Bridgewater, MA
• Sara Wang, Henderson, NV
• Anna Yang, Austin, TX
• Sabrina Affany, Fresno, CA
• Alejandro Aguirre, Mission Viejo, CA
• Sai Meghana Chakka, Charlotte, NC
• Khushi Jain, San Jose, CA
• Aiden Johnson, Virginia Beach, VA
• Robert Kreidler, Cincinnati, OH
• Zoie Lawson, Tigard, OR
• Thomas Liu, Ridgewood, NJ
• Madeline Male, Fairway, KS
• Dang Khoi Pham, Westminster, CA
• Sofia Anna Reed-Gomes, Coral Gables, FL
• Ava Schmidt, Leavenworth, WA
• Madden Smith, Loveland, OH
• Kailey Thomas, Las Vegas, NV
• Warren Volles, Lyme, CT

About the Challenge

The challenge is funded by the Radioisotope Power Systems Program Office in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate and administered by Future Engineers under the NASA Open Innovation Services 2 contract. This contract is managed by the NASA Tournament Lab, a part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

2024 Contest Details

The writing challenge invites K-12th grade students in the United States to learn about radioisotope power systems, a type of nuclear battery integral to many of NASA’s far-reaching space missions, and then write an essay about a new powered mission for the agency.

For more than 60 years, radioisotope power systems have helped NASA explore the harshest, darkest, and dustiest parts of our solar system and has enabled many spacecrafts to conduct otherwise impossible missions in total darkness. Ahead of the next total solar eclipse in the United States in April 2024, which is a momentary glimpse without sunlight and brings attention to the challenge of space exploration without solar power, NASA wants students to submit essays about these systems.

Entries should detail where students would go, what they would explore, and how they would use the power of radioisotope power systems to achieve mission success in a dusty, dark, or far away space destination with limited or obstructed access to light. Submissions are due Feb. 9, 2024 .

“The Power to Explore Student Challenge is part of NASA’s ongoing efforts to engage students in space exploration and inspire interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,” said Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “This technology has been a game changer in our exploration capabilities and we can’t wait to see what students – our future explorers – dream up; the sky isn’t the limit, it’s just the beginning.”

Judges will review entries in three grade-level categories: K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Student entries are limited to 250 words and should address the mission destination, mission goals, and describe one of the student’s unique powers that will help the mission.

One grand prize winner from each grade category (three total) will receive a trip for two to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, to learn about the people and technologies that enable NASA missions. Every student who submits an entry will receive a digital certificate and an invitation to a virtual event with NASA experts where they’ll learn about what powers the NASA workforce to dream big and explore.

The Power to Explore Student Challenge is funded by the NASA Science Mission Directorate’s Radioisotope Power Systems Program Office and managed and administered by Future Engineers under the direction of the NASA Tournament Lab, a part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

Discover More Topics From NASA

Radioisotope Power Systems

About Plutonium-238

Radioisotope Power Systems Missions

Radioisotope Power Systems Safety and Reliability

The Dyatlov Pass Incident

What is the Dyatlov Pass incident? Well, as we’ll find out, it was when nine Russian hikers died in the northern Ural Mountains between February 1st & 2nd in 1959, under supposed uncertain circumstances. The experienced trekking group, who were all from the Ural Polytechnical Institute , had established a camp on the slopes of Kholat Syakhl , in an area now named in honour of the group's leader, Igor Dyatlov. During the night, something caused them to cut their way out of their tent and attempt to flee the campsite while not being dressed for the heavy ass snowfall and subzero temperatures. Subzero was one of my favorite Mortal Kombat characters… god I loved that game.

After the group's bodies were grusomly discovered, an investigation by Soviet authorities determined that six of them had died from hypothermia while the other three had been killed by physical trauma . One victim actually had major skull damage, two had severe chest trauma, and another had a small crack in the skull . Was all of this caused by an avalanche or from something nefarious? Four of the bodies were found lying in running water in a creek, and three of these had soft tissue damage of the head and face – two of the bodies were missing their eyes, one was missing its tongue, and one was missing its eyebrows. It’s eyebrows! The Soviet investigation concluded that a "compelling natural force" had caused the untimely deaths. Numerous theories have been brought forward to account for the unexplained deaths, including animal attacks, hypothermia, avalanche , katabatic winds , infrasound -induced panic, military involvement, or some combination of these. We’ll discuss all these in further detail later on.

Recently, Russia has opened a new investigation into the Dyatlov incident in 2019, and its conclusions were presented in July 2020: Simply put, they believe that an avalanche had led to the deaths of the hikers. Survivors of the avalanche had been forced to suddenly leave their camp in low visibility conditions with inadequate clothing, and had died of hypothermia. Andrey Kuryakov, deputy head of the regional prosecutor's office, said: "It was a heroic struggle. There was no panic. But they had no chance to save themselves under the circumstances." A study published in 2021 suggested that a type of avalanche known as a slab avalanche could explain some of the injuries. However, we’ll run through everything and you can come to your own conclusion.

Ok, let’s dive into the details of the event.

In 1959, the group was formed for a skiing expedition across the northern Urals in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Soviet Union. According to Prosecutor Tempalov, documents that were found in the tent of the expedition suggest that the expedition was named for the 21st Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and was possibly dispatched by the local Komsomol organisation.Which was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union , which was sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union . Igor Dyatlov, a 23-year-old radio engineering student at the Ural Polytechnical Institute; now Ural Federal University, was the leader who assembled a group of nine others for the trip, most of whom were fellow students and peers at the university.Ok, so they were mostly students. Each member of the group, which consisted of eight men and two women, was an experienced Grade II-hiker with ski tour experience, and would be receiving Grade III certification upon their return. So, this trekk was like a test. I hated tests. Especially ones that could KILL YOU! At the time, this was the highest certification available in the Soviet Union, and required candidates to traverse 190 mi. The route was designed by Igor Dyatlov's group in order to reach the far northern regions of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the upper-streams of the Lozva river. The route was approved by the Sverdlovsk city route commission, which was a division of the Sverdlovsk Committee of Physical Culture and Sport. They approved of and confirmed the group of 10 people on January 8th, 1959. The goal of the expedition was to reach Otorten, a mountain(6.2 mi north of the site where the incident took place. This path, taken in February, was estimated as a Category III, the most difficult time to traverse.

On January 23rd, 1959 the Dyatlov group was issued their route book which listed their course as following the No.5 trail. At that time, the Sverdlovsk City Committee of Physical Culture and Sport listed approval for 11 people. The 11th person was listed as Semyon Zolotaryov who was previously certified to go with another expedition of similar difficulty (that was the Sogrin expedition group). The Dyatlov group left the Sverdlovsk city (today called Yekaterinburg) on the same day they received the route book.

The members of the group were Igor Alekseyevich Dyatlov, Yuri Nikolayevich Doroshenko, Lyudmila Alexandrovna Dubinina, Georgiy (Yuri) Alexeyevich Krivonischenko, Alexander Sergeyevich Kolevatov, Zinaida Alekseevna Kolmogorova, Rustem Vladimirovich Slobodin, Nikolai Vladimirovich Thibeaux-Brignolles, Semyon (Alexander) Alekseevich Zolotaryov, and Yuri Yefimovich Yudin

The group arrived by train at Ivdel , a town at the centre of the northern province of Sverdlovsk Oblast in the early morning hours of January 25, 1959. They took a truck to Vizhai, a little village that is the last inhabited settlement to the north. As of 2010, only 207 really, really fucking cold people lived there. While spending the night in Vizhai, and probably freezing their baguettes off, the skiers purchased and ate loaves of bread to keep their energy levels up for the following day's hike.

On January 27, they began their trek toward Gora Otorten. On January 28, one member, Yuri Yudin, who suffered from several health ailments (including rheumatism and a congenital heart defect ) turned back due to knee and joint pain that made him unable to continue the hike. The remaining nine hikers continued the trek. Ok, my first question with this is, why in the fuck was that guy there, to begin with??

Diaries and cameras found around their last campsite made it possible to track the group's route up to the day before the incident. On January 31st, the group arrived at the edge of a highland area and began to prepare for climbing. In a wooded valley, they rounded up surplus food and equipment that they would use for the trip back. The next day, the hikers started to move through the pass. It seems they planned to get over the pass and make camp for the next night on the opposite side, but because of worsening weather conditions—like snowstorms, decreasing visibility... large piles of yeti shit—they lost their direction and headed west, toward the top of Kholat Syakhl . When they realised their mistake, the group decided to set up camp there on the slope of the mountain, rather than move almost a mile downhill to a forested area that would have offered some shelter from the weather. Yudin, the debilitated goofball that shouldn’t have even been there speculated, "Dyatlov probably did not want to lose the altitude they had gained, or he decided to practice camping on the mountain slope."

Before leaving, Captain Dyatlov had agreed he would send a telegram to their sports club as soon as the group returned to teeny, tiny Vizhai. It was expected that this would happen no later than February 12th, but Dyatlov had told Yudin, before he departed from the group, that he expected it to actually be longer. When the 12th passed and no messages had been received, there was no immediate reaction because, ya know… fuck it. Just kidding, these types of delays were actually common with such expeditions. On February 20th, the travellers' worried relatives demanded a rescue operation and the head of the institute sent the first rescue groups, consisting of volunteer students and teachers. Later, the army and militsiya forces (aka the Soviet police) became involved, with planes and helicopters ordered to join in on the search party.

On February 26th, the searchers found the group's abandoned and super fucked up tent on Kholat Syakhl . The campsite undoubtedly baffled the search party. Mikhail Sharavin, the student who found the tent, said “HOLY SHIT! THIS PLACE IS FUCKED UP!”... No, that’s not true. He actually said, "the tent was half torn down and covered with snow. It was empty, and all the group's belongings and shoes had been left behind." Investigators said the tent had been cut open from inside. Which seems like a serious and quick escape route was needed. Nine sets of footprints, left by people wearing only socks or a single shoe or even barefoot, could actually be followed, leading down to the edge of a nearby wood, on the opposite side of the pass, about a mile to the north-east. After approximately 1,600 ft, these tracks were covered with snow. At the forest's edge, under a large Siberian pine , the searchers found the visible remains of a small fire. There were the first two bodies, those of Krivonischenko and Doroshenko, shoeless and dressed only in their tighty whiteys. The branches on the tree were broken up to five meters high, suggesting that one of the skiers had climbed up to look for something, maybe the camp. Between the pine and the camp, the searchers found three more corpses: Dyatlov, Kolmogorova, and Slobodin, who died in poses suggesting that they were attempting to return to the tent. They were found at distances of 980, 1,570, and 2,070 ft from the tree.

Finding the remaining four travellers took more than two frigging months. They were finally found on May 4th under 13 ft of snow in a ravine 246 ft further into the woods from the pine tree. Three of the four were better dressed than the others, and there were signs that some clothing of those who had died first had been taken off of their corpses for use by the others. Dubinina was wearing Krivonishenko's burned, torn trousers, and her left foot and shin were wrapped in a torn jacket.

Let’s get into the investigation. A legal inquest started immediately after the first five bodies were found. A medical examination found no injuries that might have led to their deaths, and it was concluded that they had all died of hypothermia .Which would make sense because it was colder than a polar bear’s butthole. Slobodin had a small crack in his skull, but it was not thought to be a fatal wound.

An examination of the four bodies found in May shifted the overall narrative of what they initially believed transpired. Three of the hikers had fatal injuries: Thibeaux-Brignolles had major skull damage, and Dubinina and Zolotaryov had major chest fractures. According to Boris Vozrozhdenny, the force required to cause such damage would have been extremely high, comparable to that of a car crash.Also, the bodies had no external wounds associated with the bone fractures, as if they had been subjected to a high level of pressure.

All four bodies found at the bottom of the creek in a running stream of water had soft tissue damage to their head and face. For example, Dubinina was missing her tongue, eyes, part of the lips, as well as facial tissue and a fragment of her skullbone, while Zolotaryov was missing his friggin eyeballs, and Aleksander Kolevatov his eyebrows. V. A. Vozrozhdenny, the forensic expert performing the post-mortem examination , judged that these injuries happened after they had died, due to the location of the bodies in a stream.

At first, there was speculation that the indigenous Mansi people , who were just simple reindeer herders local to the area, had attacked and murdered the group for making fun of Rudolph. Several Mansi were interrogated, but the investigation indicated that the nature of the deaths did not support this hypothesis: only the hikers' footprints were visible, and they showed no sign of hand-to-hand struggle. Oh, I was kidding about the Rudolph thing. They thought they attacked the hikers for being on their land.

Although the temperature was very low, around −13 to −22 °F with a storm blowing, the dead were only partially dressed, as I mentioned.

Journalists reporting on the available parts of the inquest files claim that it states:

Six of the group members died of hypothermia and three of fatal injuries.

There were no indications of other people nearby on Kholat Syakhl apart from the nine travellers.

The tent had been ripped open from within.

The victims had died six to eight hours after their last meal.

Traces from the camp showed that all group members left the campsite of their own accord, on foot.

Some levels of radiation were found on one victim's clothing.

To dispel the theory of an attack by the indigenous Mansi people, Vozrozhdenny stated that the fatal injuries of the three bodies could not have been caused by human beings, "because the force of the blows had been too strong and no soft tissue had been damaged".

Released documents contained no information about the condition of the skiers' internal organs.

And most obviously, There were no survivors.

At the time, the official conclusion was that the group members had died because of a compelling natural force.The inquest officially ceased in May 1959 as a result of the absence of a guilty party. The files were sent to a secret archive.

In 1997, it was revealed that the negatives from Krivonischenko's camera were kept in the private archive of one of the investigators, Lev Ivanov. The film material was donated by Ivanov's daughter to the Dyatlov Foundation. The diaries of the hiking party fell into Russia's public domain in 2009.

On April 12th, 2018, Zolotarev's remains were exhumed on the initiative of journalists of the Russian tabloid newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda . Contradictory results were obtained: one of the experts said that the character of the injuries resembled a person knocked down by a car, and the DNA analysis did not reveal any similarity to the DNA of living relatives. In addition, it turned out that Zolotarev's name was not on the list of those buried at the Ivanovskoye cemetery. Nevertheless, the reconstruction of the face from the exhumed skull matched postwar photographs of Zolotarev, although journalists expressed suspicions that another person was hiding under Zolotarev's name after World War II .

In February 2019, Russian authorities reopened the investigation into the incident, yet again, although only three possible explanations were being considered: an avalanche, a slab avalanche , or a hurricane . The possibility of a crime had been discounted.

Other reports brought about a whole bunch of additional speculation.

Twelve-year-old Yury Kuntsevich, who later became the head of the Yekaterinburg-based Dyatlov Foundation, attended five of the hikers' funerals. He recalled that their skin had a "deep brown tan".

Another group of hikers 31 mi south of the incident reported that they saw strange orange spheres in the sky to the north on the night of the incident.Similar spheres were observed in Ivdel and other areas continually during the period from February to March of 1959, by various independent witnesses (including the meteorology service and the military). These sightings were not noted in the 1959 investigation, and the various witnesses came forward years later.

After the initial investigation,

Anatoly Gushchin summarized his research in the book The Price of State Secrets Is Nine Lives. Some researchers criticised the work for its concentration on the speculative theory of a Soviet secret weapon experiment, but its publication led to public discussion, stimulated by interest in the paranormal .It is true that many of those who had remained silent for thirty years reported new facts about the accident. One of them was the former police officer, Lev Ivanov, who led the official inquest in 1959. In 1990, he published an article that included his admission that the investigation team had no rational explanation for the incident. He also stated that, after his team reported that they had seen flying spheres, he then received direct orders from high-ranking regional officials to dismiss this claim.

In 2000, a regional television company produced the documentary film The Mystery of Dyatlov Pass . With the help of the film crew, a Yekaterinburg writer, Anna Matveyeva, published a docudrama of the same name. A large part of the book includes broad quotations from the official case, diaries of victims, interviews with searchers and other documentaries collected by the film-makers. The narrative line of the book details the everyday life and thoughts of a modern woman (an alter ego of the author herself, which is super weird) who attempts to resolve the case. Despite its fictional narrative, Matveyeva's book remains the largest source of documentary materials ever made available to the public regarding the incident. Also, the pages of the case files and other documentaries (in photocopies and transcripts) are gradually being published on a web forum for nerds just like you and i!.

The Dyatlov Foundation was founded in 1999 at Yekaterinburg, with the help of Ural State Technical University, led by Yuri Kuntsevitch. The foundation's stated aim is to continue investigation of the case and to maintain the Dyatlov Museum to preserve the memory of the dead hikers. On July 1st 2016, a memorial plaque was inaugurated in Solikamsk in Ural's Perm Region, dedicated to Yuri Yudin (the dude who pussed out and is the sole survivor of the expedition group), who died in 2013.

Now, let’s go over some of the theories of what actually took place at the pass.

On July 11 2020, Andrey Kuryakov, deputy head of the Urals Federal District directorate of the Prosecutor-General 's Office, announced an avalanche to be the "official cause of death" for the Dyatlov group in 1959. Later independent computer simulation and analysis by Swiss researchers also suggest avalanche as the cause.

Reviewing the sensationalist " Yeti " hypothesis , American skeptic author Benjamin Radford suggests an avalanche as more plausible:

“that the group woke up in a panic (...) and cut their way out the tent either because an avalanche had covered the entrance to their tent or because they were scared that an avalanche was imminent (...) (better to have a potentially repairable slit in a tent than risk being buried alive in it under tons of snow). They were poorly clothed because they had been sleeping, and ran to the safety of the nearby woods where trees would help slow oncoming snow. In the darkness of night, they got separated into two or three groups; one group made a fire (hence the burned hands) while the others tried to return to the tent to recover their clothing since the danger had passed. But it was too cold, and they all froze to death before they could locate their tent in the darkness. At some point, some of the clothes may have been recovered or swapped from the dead, but at any rate, the group of four whose bodies was most severely damaged were caught in an avalanche and buried under 4 meters (13 ft) of snow (more than enough to account for the 'compelling natural force' the medical examiner described). Dubinina's tongue was likely removed by scavengers and ordinary predation.”

Evidence contradicting the avalanche theory includes:

The location of the incident did not have any obvious signs of an avalanche having taken place. An avalanche would have left certain patterns and debris distributed over a wide area. The bodies found within a month of the event were covered with a very shallow layer of snow and, had there been an avalanche of sufficient strength to sweep away the second party, these bodies would have been swept away as well; this would have caused more serious and different injuries in the process and would have damaged the tree line.

Over 100 expeditions to the region had been held since the incident, and none of them ever reported conditions that might create an avalanche. A study of the area using up-to-date terrain-related physics revealed that the location was entirely unlikely for such an avalanche to have occurred. The "dangerous conditions" found in another nearby area (which had significantly steeper slopes and cornices) were observed in April and May when the snowfalls of winter were melting. During February, when the incident occurred, there were no such conditions.

An analysis of the terrain and the slope showed that even if there could have been a very specific avalanche that found its way into the area, its path would have gone past the tent. The tent had collapsed from the side but not in a horizontal direction.

Dyatlov was an experienced skier and the much older Zolotaryov was studying for his Masters Certificate in ski instruction and mountain hiking. Neither of these two men would have been likely to camp anywhere in the path of a potential avalanche.

Footprint patterns leading away from the tent were inconsistent with someone, let alone a group of nine people, running in panic from either real or imagined danger. All the footprints leading away from the tent and towards the woods were consistent with individuals who were walking at a normal pace.

Repeated 2015 investigation [ edit ]

A review of the 1959 investigation's evidence completed in 2015–2019 by experienced investigators from the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) on request of the families confirmed the avalanche with several important details added. First of all, the ICRF investigators (one of them an experienced alpinist ) confirmed that the weather on the night of the tragedy was very harsh, with wind speeds up to hurricane force,(45–67 mph, a snowstorm and temperatures reaching −40 °C. These factors weren't considered by the 1959 investigators who arrived at the scene of the accident three weeks later when the weather had much improved and any remains of the snow slide had settled and been covered with fresh snowfall. The harsh weather at the same time played a critical role in the events of the tragic night, which have been reconstructed as follows:

On 1 February the group arrives at the Kholat Syakhl mountain and erects a large, 9-person tent on an open slope, without any natural barriers such as forests. On the day and a few preceding days, a heavy snowfall continued, with strong wind and frost.

The group traversing the slope and digging a tent site into the snow weakens the snow base. During the night the snowfield above the tent starts to slide down slowly under the weight of the new snow, gradually pushing on the tent fabric, starting from the entrance. The group wakes up and starts evacuation in panic, with only some able to put on warm clothes. With the entrance blocked, the group escapes through a hole cut in the tent fabric and descends the slope to find a place perceived as safe from the avalanche only 1500 m down, at the forest border.

Because some of the members have only incomplete clothing, the group splits. Two of the group, only in their underwear and pajamas, were found at the Siberian pine tree, near a fire pit. Their bodies were found first and confirmed to have died from hypothermia.

Three hikers, including Dyatlov, attempted to climb back to the tent, possibly to get sleeping bags. They had better clothes than those at the fire pit, but still quite light and with inadequate footwear. Their bodies were found at various distances 300–600 m from the campfire, in poses suggesting that they had fallen exhausted while trying to climb in deep snow in extremely cold weather.

The remaining four, equipped with warm clothing and footwear, were trying to find or build a better camping place in the forest further down the slope. Their bodies were found 70 m from the fireplace, under several meters of snow and with traumas indicating that they had fallen into a snow hole formed above a stream. These bodies were found only after two months.

According to the ICRF investigators, the factors contributing to the tragedy were extremely bad weather and lack of experience of the group leader in such conditions, which led to the selection of a dangerous camping place. After the snow slide, another mistake of the group was to split up, rather than building a temporary camp down in the forest and trying to survive through the night. Negligence of the 1959 investigators contributed to their report creating more questions than answers and inspiring numerous conspiracy theories.

In 2021 a team of physicists and engineers led by Alexander Puzrin published a new model that demonstrated how even a relatively small slide of snow slab on the Kholat Syakhl slope could cause tent damage and injuries consistent with those suffered by Dyatlov team.

Ok, what about the Katabatic wind that I mentioned earlier?

In 2019, a Swedish-Russian expedition was made to the site, and after investigations, they proposed that a violent katabatic wind was a plausible explanation for the incident. Katabatic winds are a drainage wind, a wind that carries high-density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. They are somewhat rare events and can be extremely violent. They were implicated in a 1978 case at Anaris Mountain in Sweden, where eight hikers were killed and one was severely injured in the aftermath of katabatic wind. The topography of these locations were noted to be very similar according to the expedition.

A sudden katabatic wind would have made it impossible to remain in the tent, and the most rational course of action would have been for the hikers to cover the tent with snow and seek shelter behind the treeline. On top of the tent, there was also a torch left turned on, possibly left there intentionally so that the hikers could find their way back to the tent once the winds subsided. The expedition proposed that the group of hikers constructed two bivouac shelters , or just makeshift shelters, one of which collapsed, leaving four of the hikers buried with the severe injuries observed.

Another hypothesis popularised by Donnie Eichar 's 2013 book Dead Mountain is that wind going around Kholat Syakal created a Kármán vortex street , a repeating pattern of swirling vortices , caused by a process known as vortex shedding , which is responsible for the unsteady separation of flow of a fluid around blunt bodies. which can produce infrasound capable of inducing panic attacks in humans. According to Eichar's theory, the infrasound generated by the wind as it passed over the top of the Holatchahl mountain was responsible for causing physical discomfort and mental distress in the hikers. Eichar claims that, because of their panic, the hikers were driven to leave the tent by whatever means necessary, and fled down the slope. By the time they were further down the hill, they would have been out of the infrasound's path and would have regained their composure, but in the darkness would have been unable to return to their shelter. The traumatic injuries suffered by three of the victims were the result of their stumbling over the edge of a ravine in the darkness and landing on the rocks at the bottom. Hmmm...plausible.

Military tests

In another theory, the campsite fell within the path of a Soviet parachute mine exercise. This theory alleges that the hikers, woken up by loud explosions, fled the tent in a shoeless panic and found themselves unable to return for their shit. After some members froze to death attempting to endure the bombardment, others commandeered their clothing only to be fatally injured by subsequent parachute mine concussions. There are in fact records of parachute mines being tested by the Soviet military in the area around the time the hikers were out there, fuckin’ around. Parachute mines detonate while still in the air rather than upon striking the Earth's surface and produce signature injuries similar to those experienced by the hikers: heavy internal damage with relatively little external trauma. The theory coincides with reported sightings of glowing, orange orbs floating or falling in the sky within the general vicinity of the hikers and allegedly photographed by them, potentially military aircraft or descending parachute mines. (remember the camera they found? HUH? Yeah?)

This theory (among others) uses scavenging animals to explain Dubinina's injuries. Some speculate that the bodies were unnaturally manipulated, on the basis of characteristic livor mortis markings discovered during an autopsy, as well as burns to hair and skin. Photographs of the tent allegedly show that it was erected incorrectly, something the experienced hikers were unlikely to have done.

A similar theory alleges the testing of radiological weapons and is based partly on the discovery of radioactivity on some of the clothing as well as the descriptions of the bodies by relatives as having orange skin and grey hair. However, radioactive dispersal would have affected all, not just some, of the hikers and equipment, and the skin and hair discoloration can be explained by a natural process of mummification after three months of exposure to the cold and wind. The initial suppression by Soviet authorities of files describing the group's disappearance is sometimes mentioned as evidence of a cover-up, but the concealment of information about domestic incidents was standard procedure in the USSR and thus nothing strange.. And by the late 1980s, all Dyatlov files had been released in some manner.

Let’s talk about Paradoxical undressing

International Science Times proposed that the hikers' deaths were caused by hypothermia, which can induce a behavior known as paradoxical undressing in which hypothermic subjects remove their clothes in response to perceived feelings of burning warmth. It is undisputed that six of the nine hikers died of hypothermia. However, others in the group appear to have acquired additional clothing (from those who had already died), which suggests that they were of a sound enough mind to try to add layers.

Keith McCloskey, who has researched the incident for many years and has appeared in several TV documentaries on the subject, traveled to the Dyatlov Pass in 2015 with Yury Kuntsevich of the Dyatlov Foundation and a group. At the Dyatlov Pass he noted:

There were wide discrepancies in distances quoted between the two possible locations of the snow shelter where Dubinina, Kolevatov, Zolotarev, and Thibault-Brignolles were found. One location was approximately 80 to 100 meters from the pine tree where the bodies of Doroshenko and Krivonischenko were found and the other suggested location was so close to the tree that anyone in the snow shelter could have spoken to those at the tree without raising their voices to be heard. This second location also has a rock in the stream where Dubinina's body was found and is the more likely location of the two. However, the second suggested location of the two has a topography that is closer to the photos taken at the time of the search in 1959.

The location of the tent near the ridge was found to be too close to the spur of the ridge for any significant build-up of snow to cause an avalanche. Furthermore, the prevailing wind blowing over the ridge had the effect of blowing snow away from the edge of the ridge on the side where the tent was. This further reduced any build-up of snow to cause an avalanche. This aspect of the lack of snow on the top and near the top of the ridge was pointed out by Sergey Sogrin in 2010.

McCloskey also noted:

Lev Ivanov's boss, Evgeny Okishev (Deputy Head of the Investigative Department of the Sverdlovsk Oblast Prosecution Office), was still alive in 2015 and had given an interview to former Kemerovo prosecutor Leonid Proshkin in which Okishev stated that he was arranging another trip to the Pass to fully investigate the strange deaths of the last four bodies when Deputy Prosecutor General Urakov arrived from Moscow and ordered the case shut down.

Evgeny Okishev also stated in his interview with Leonid Proshkin that Klinov, head of the Sverdlovsk Prosecutor's Office, was present at the first post mortems in the morgue and spent three days there, something Okishev regarded as highly unusual and the only time, in his experience, it had happened.

Donnie Eichar , who investigated and made a documentary about the incident, evaluated several other theories that are deemed unlikely or have been discredited:

They were attacked by Mansi or other local tribesmen. The local tribesmen were known to be peaceful and there was no track evidence of anyone approaching the tent.

They were attacked and chased by animal wildlife. There were no animal tracks and the group would not have abandoned the relative security of the tent.

High winds blew one member away, and the others attempted to rescue the person. A large experienced group would not have behaved like that, and winds strong enough to blow away people with such force would have also blown away the tent.

An argument, possibly related to a romantic encounter that left some of them only partially clothed, led to a violent dispute. About this, Eichar states that it is "highly implausible. By all indications, the group was largely harmonious, and sexual tension was confined to platonic flirtation and crushes. There were no drugs present and the only alcohol was a small flask of medicinal alcohol, found intact at the scene. The group had even sworn off cigarettes for the expedition." Furthermore, a fight could not have left the massive injuries that one body had suffered.

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