Interesting read, thanks for posting. Though the “maybe it was homicide” angle feels like a tease to create a better story. The climbers committed basic mountaineering sins: continuing when team members were sick or exhausted, splitting up the team (and letting some people go off alone!), overnighting on the glacier without appropriate gear, etc. These are common ways people die in such conditions.
Yes, but do they typically die by being impaled through 8 layers of clothing by a mysteriously missing weapon, or having their faces bashed in?
The article equivocates a bit, but suspecting foul play based on the state of the bodies is not unreasonable IMO. The only real thing missing was a viable motive. Reading between the lines, it almost sounds like someone hallucinating from altitude sickness could have decided to “put them out of misery,” fearing that they’d be accused of cowardice for abandoning them on the mountain to freeze to death? Idk, either way it’s a super interesting read.
Haunting. Unfortunately I think this is one mystery we will never solve. Mountain climbing tragedies like this are fascinating - the Dyatlov Pass Incident is a particularly good one.