Actually, it sounds like Russ and Andrew are mostly on the same page, if I'm reading their posts right. I agree, we should try to learn as much as we can from this tangled business.

Looking at the skiers' side, a few things do stand out (as they always do, with 20-20 hindsight):

I think Red picked up on a very important point: they kept moving because there were wolves about. The man was said to be an experienced hunter, but may have had an outdated understanding about wolves and the minimal threat they pose to humans. It would be understandably unnerving to see them a pack hanging out close by, but it cost them a lot of crucial energy, took them away from their signals, and forced them to improvise new shelter every night. I think this may have been the tipping point for them.

The other thing that stands out is how much a tiny bit of gear would have helped. (I know this has been covered before, but bear with me.) The man obviously had some outdoor skills; he was said to be an experienced hunter, and he stayed alive with nothing (as far as we know) in a hostile environment for a long time. He wasn't a quitter; even near the end he was going up every day to clear off his SOS. Imagine what he could have done given a bit of extra food and a handful of essential tools.

(No blame in any of the above. I'm just trying to learn, learn, learn from someone else's misfortune. Though I confess some frustration because so many small things could have tipped the balance in their favour.)