I'm struck by a couple of things:
First is that he had 'studied' survival but obviously he didn't cover some areas or he didn't incorporate that knowledge.

Basics like, how to dress. The classic Three-layer system of dressing: an under layer of sweat removing and insulting clothing tight to the skin, with a mid-layer of insulation, and a outer layer to block water and wind. Worn and well managed the outer layer would have made sure he didn't get so wet or been so exposed to the wind. A simple Stearns rain suit, about $17, might have done the job. It isn't breathable so you need to drive it more actively, opening vents to keep sweat from building up and closing them down when you cool, but our ancestors did more with less. That alone might have saved him.

It's generally a cold, miserable night without extra insulation to sleep in. A sleeping bag, and perhaps a tent and pad is the classic answer but a simple wind and water resistant bivvy bag can make a lot of difference. Even the simplest sleeping system, a tarp done up in a 'burrito roll' is a huge improvement over sleeping exposed.

The burrito roll, essentially rolling yourself into a tarp, is a great survival technique. In part because you can do it in the worse possible conditions of wind and rain and you don't need working fingers or a lot of brain power. Your hands are incapacitated by cold, your brain non-functional, shivering uncontrollably, if there is any life left in you you can still shake out a tarp, grip a corner (use your teeth if you must), and roll. Drunks, mindless and unable to stand, do it on cold beaches. Learn it, practice it a few times, carry a small tarp.

In an urban environment, or a dump site, you can burrito in a piece of carpet, between discarded mattresses, in old plastic sheeting, or climb into a cardboard box. The idea is to save your life by putting something between you and the wind/rain/cold.

In other words a $7 hardware store tarp or salvaged shower curtain might have saved him.

I didn't notice if he had any water. Did he eat snow? Waking up after a hard slog the day before and a miserable night I imagine he was thirsty. There are few better way of losing heat than eating snow. That's one of the classic survival manual lessons. If he did perhaps he felt he had no other choice.

I'm also struck by how rigid his thinking was. He planned a certain route and when he encountered deep snow he didn't go around it. Clearly he was working to a plan he had in his mind. He was rigidly set on carrying out his plan. IMO survival demands flexibility and an acute awareness of your environment. Nature is bigger and tougher than you are so you don't go toe-to-toe with it and try to bull your way through.

Had he gone around the deep snow he might not have got wet from exertion and/or melted snow. If he was dry, or at least drier, he would have had more energy to find proper wood, maybe a fire. At the least he would have had a warmer night and seen daylight with higher energy reserves. He might have made the trailer park.

It is hard to characterize the guy. I see a lot of your typical internet 'Google expert' sort of personality. But most of your people with Google PhD's don't actually go out and pit their expertise against nature. I'm not sure if it makes them better or worse. The guy had guts.

I suspect that he fell victim to a psychological trap known as the Dunning–Kruger effect. It is a case where a person knows so little about a subject that they have no way of knowing how much they don't know. Because of this they vastly overestimate their competency.

Imagine you don't know a thing about writing. You see people pick up a pen and make funny marks. So you pick up a pen and start making marks. Man, this is easy. Someone asks you if you can write ... and you say yes. They made marks and you make marks. You are completely unaware that the marks have meaning both by themselves and as groups. That it is a means of communication. As far as you can tell, you're writing, and doing a fine job of it.

You can see this when kids scribble imitating adults. The difference is most kids know it is make believe. Adults are often far more talented at fooling ourselves. A little confidence and anyway 'how hard could it be?'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

I suspect that the man didn't know enough to know that he was a novice. By the time it was perfectly clear that he was in over his head it was too late. Sad.

I strikes me that a single weekend spent with someone with experience could have seen the many small problems corrected and vastly increased his odds.

Edited for spelling.