IMHO, to a large extent age really is just a number. No doubt our physical capabilities decrease with age but I have seen quite a few remarkably fit old geezers and all too many 20-somethings in hopeless shape, not to mention seriously lacking in the skills and judgement department.

I don't think the gentleman in question did anything altogether foolish or inviting disaster. Going out solo that time of year at night may have been risky, but I suspect it wasn't the first time he did something like that either. More likely than not it was an unlucky turn of events. Not necessarily due to a lack of gear either.

Note the following sequence - headlight burning out, sat phone broken, then running out of gas. So it seems this gentleman's gear gave up much sooner than he did.

Also, carrying a sat phone indicates a pretty good level of preparedness IMHO, it's not something often carried by most people outdoors - even though in that environment I suppose it is more common and certainly more necessary. Anyway, sat phones tend to be pretty robust devices. If his broke I think it's fair to say an ordinary smartphone (whether a dual-core with 2 gigs of RAM or a 32GB super-octocore) with an onboard GPS would have failed just as easily. Going back to basics and carrying a plain old compass might have been helpful, though.