This was my point all along unless you missed it. You go out into the wilderness prepared to survive
We all agree on that one. Be equipped or there will be rash consequences.
Now the fire thingy... Sorry, I just can't leave that alone.
In my experience, fire requires quite a bit of work. To "go big or go home" with a fire for, say, 12 hours requires quite a bit of wood gathering. Not impossible in a friggin' blizzard but rough weather still sort of complicates things (even if you have the wits to seek the most sheltered location in your area). The art of actually putting that fuel on fire is a topic in it self.
Which is why I skimp a bit when I read stuff as this:
How bloody hard is it to use a lighter and matches?
and react with long, pedantic rants about exactly why I don't consider fire under rough conditions easy. Sorry if that irritates you. And no, I'm afraid adding
won't help.
Are we done with the fire subject now?
As to other factors that may have contributed to this guy's downfall I note the weather took quite a turn for the worse. I would be very surprised if this wasn't give due warning in the forecasts. It is speculation, but either ignoring the forecasts or not realizing what they really meant may have been an important factor.
As always... the details aren't there in the media. And once more details are available the media aren't interested anymore, so we never hear from it.