From my POV, the common takeaway for both stories is the importance of shelter in extreme conditions. Neither shelter would have been even remotely comfortable, but it tipped the balance in their favour.

The climber did remarkably well, although arguably he would have risked less by staying put until rescuers came looking.

The people in their two cars could certainly have had more gear, and would have been less dependent on good luck. No doubt they will have extra blankets and candles at hand next time.

Breaking into an industrial facility (assuming you can even do so, in this era of copper theft) in the hope of finding something useful is a very long shot. I assume this was a telephone microwave relay tower, hence the phone inside for technician use.

The best preparation for driving in a blizzard is to stay home. When I have to set out into a potential blizzard, I am generally loaded for bear.

However, to my embarrassment, in one instance I was on a milk run -- only a few miles -- and hit a hard packed drift. My car got high-centred, and there was glare ice under the tires. A truck stopped to help, but I had used my tow strap for something else and the trucker's recovery strap was too big to attach anywhere. So, as the wind howled, I lay on my back and shoveled underneath, cursing myself as a bloody idiot the whole while. Still kicking myself over that one.