The climbers on the 1973 expedition up Aconcagua mountain faced extreme environmental dangers. With no modern safety equipment and group tensions stalling decision-making, the attempt turned tragic when two climbers died under mysterious circumstances. In this episode about the fateful trip, hear the details surrounding the puzzling physical evidence connected with Janet Johnson's and John Cooper's deaths.
Though autopsies pointed to head trauma, the strange injuries with scant other markings sparked theories of foul play rather than falls. Explore the case from all angles, including the debated causes of the wounds, the climbers' fractured group dynamics, and the challenges posed by conditions like low oxygen levels and unforgiving terrain.
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Aconcagua mountain, at over 22,800 feet, presents severe altitude and environmental challenges. Petroski explains that the dangerously low oxygen levels and conditions like ice formations and unpredictable weather make the climb treacherous, even for expert climbers like Janet Johnson.
The 1973 expedition lacked GPS, radios, oxygen, rescue services, and other modern safety nets. This increased risks like altitude sickness, injury, and emergencies. Complications included falls leading to hallucinations, a rope snapping between climbers, and a climber potentially freezing to death.
The diverse group of climbers lacked cohesion as a team. They deferred little authority to the experienced guide, Miguel Alfonso. Tensions arose, with John Cooper criticizing Johnson's perceived lack of effort. This dysfunction may have impacted decision-making, like continuing the summit attempt guideless against conventional wisdom.
Though autopsies pointed to head trauma as the cause of Cooper and Johnson's deaths, investigations were inconclusive due to the coup in Argentina. The peculiar injuries, like Cooper's abdominal wound and the rock on Johnson's face, sparked theories of foul play rather than accidental falls, especially given the soft snow conditions.
Autopsies revealed Cooper died from a deep, bleeding abdominal wound and Johnson had a broken nose with a rock on her face—injuries inconsistent with falls. Climbers noted their bodies lacked other typical injuries from accidents. Cooper's symmetrical wound suggested a tool caused it, while Johnson's cleanly cut boot raised suspicions.
1-Page Summary
Aconcagua mountain presents a formidable challenge for even the most experienced climbers due to its extreme elevation and harsh environment, which often lead to serious physical and psychological effects.
The human body starts to struggle at high altitudes due to the low oxygen levels, which can cause symptoms of altitude sickness such as severe headaches, fatigue, dizziness, sleep issues, vomiting, loss of coordination, and mental fog. In severe cases, altitude sickness can lead to fluid around the lungs or brain swelling—conditions that could be deadly without immediate descent to lower elevations, as experienced by Petroski.
Climbers attempting the Polish route on Aconcagua must scale a nearly vertical glacier, navigate fields of towering ice formations known as penitentes, and prepare for false summits that appear like "cruel mirages." They encounter fine powder on the glacier, which can hamper progress by sinking climbers waist-deep. Even experienced mountaineers like Janet Johnson, who had summited all 50 peaks over 14,000 feet in Colorado and Kilimanjaro, are not exempt from these challenges, as the environment at such altitudes can push the human body and psyche to their limits.
The climbers of the 1973 expedition faced an ascent without advanced safety nets like GPS trackers, radios, supplemental oxygen, altitude sickness medication, helicopter evacuations, or ranger-led resc ...
The dangers and challenges of climbing Aconcagua mountain
The interpersonal relationships within the climbing team raise several concerns about their dynamics and leadership, potentially contributing to their tragic experience.
From the outset, the team, made up of climbers from different cities and backgrounds, lacked a sense of camaraderie and unity, which are crucial for the success and safety of mountaineering expeditions. They were strangers, coming together for a shared goal but without any established cohesion or trust amongst them. The guide, Miguel Alfonso, though highly experienced, wasn't seen as the authoritative leader he needed to be.
The climbers, including Cooper, Johnson, Zeller, and McMillan, tackled the dangerous climb not as a cohesive unit but as individuals. At their final camp before the summit attempt, there remained an absence of team spirit. Alfonso was treated more as hired help than the leader. This lack of clear leadership and teamwork was evident and posed a significant risk in the extreme conditions of the mountain climb.
Cooper expressed in his journal that Johnson was not contributing fairly to the group's efforts and seemed only interested in reaching the summit, relying on others to assume the bulk of the work. This criticism indicated underlying tensions within the group, further fracturing their already weak unity.
The lack of teamwork affected not only the group dynamics but also their decision-making and actions when faced with adversity on the mountain.
The interpersonal dynamics and tensions within the climbing group
The mystifying deaths of John Cooper and Janet Johnson on Aconcagua continue to spark debate and speculation due to inconclusive official investigations and theories of foul play.
Despite the completion of autopsies three years after the tragic events of 1973, the Argentine authorities were unable to determine a clear cause of death for Cooper and Johnson. Their efforts were hindered by conflicting witness accounts and the delay in recovering the bodies. The case was further disrupted when a military coup in Argentina in 1976 halted the judicial process, preventing any official determination of the events on Aconcagua.
This cessation of the investigation, combined with the deaths of the involved parties, means that there will never be a formal trial to conclusively address the climbing accident. An Argentine police officer acknowledged the unreliability of the witness statements, noting the effects of altitude could make their accounts seem hallucinatory. Consequently, the case relied on the hard evidence presented by the bodies' conditions at the time of discovery.
The official cause of death for Cooper pointed to cranial contusions, a finding corroborated by the medical examiner's report on Johnson's body, which also indicated major head trauma. This clear evidence of head injuries suggested a different narrative from the initial theories of a mere climbing accident conceived amid altitude-induced confusion and perilous conditions.
Furthermore, Cooper's body was notably found with a bleeding abdominal wound, a missing crampon, and ice axe. Johnson's body presented an equally concerning scene, as she lay with a rock placed on her face, sliced footwear, and similarly missing equipment.
The possibility of foul play has persisted for a long time due to numerous details that are inconsistent with typical climbing accident injuries. A climber familiar with Aconcagua pointed out that given the soft snow conditions and the relatively flat area where the bodies were found, a fatal fall seemed unlikely. The specific injuries to Cooper and Johnson, such as the precise hole in Cooper's abdomen and the rock on Johnson's face, introduced the question of whether their deaths were intentional acts of murder rather than accidental. ...
The conflicting theories and investigations surrounding the deaths of Cooper and Johnson
The condition of the bodies of Cooper and Johnson has raised serious questions about the nature of their deaths, with the autopsies revealing details that suggest a scenario more complex than accidental death.
The medical examiner and their team found that the head injuries Cooper and Johnson suffered were the result of blunt force trauma, indicating they were killed. This is further complicated by details like Cooper's abdominal wound, which was a deep, round hole penetrating to his spine. This wound was not typical of a standard fall but was more consistent with being caused by a sharp tool like an ice screw, commonly used in ice climbing. The hole, described as symmetrical, was actively bleeding when Cooper died, suggesting it occurred while he was still alive.
Johnson's body showed signs of heavy blows to her face with protruding bone and a clearly broken nose. A rock was deliberately placed on her face, an action that stands out because there were no other rocks in the vicinity, suggesting intent rather than a random occurrence. Furthermore, her boot was sliced open, with cuts that appeared clean, as though caused by an axe rather than ragged rips from friction against a sharp rock.
The examination of the bodies revealed specific trauma to their faces and heads, with no other abrasions, inconsistent with typical injuries sustained in climbing accidents. These findings are supported by experienced climbers, who noted that the specific nature of the injuries was not ...
The physical evidence and condition of the recovered bodies
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