So someone did the thing advertised in the thing, and it did the thing as advertised. Sounds like they should have been more careful, maybe have a compass and overall know what they were doing.
Presumably he could have just followed the road he was on and maybe reached town before freezing to death.
And all conventional wisdom says to stay put if you find yourself in a situation like that. Years ago I was listening to the local radio on my way to Denver when a big storm was coming in and they were talking about how many people die in blizzards every year with most of the deaths being people who tried to walk to safety instead of staying in their stuck cars.
More presumption but I’d say the standard thing to do in that part of the world is to just hunker down and wait until the next traveler comes along — or press the magic button on the iPhone and get to town before last call.
—edit—
And damn straight I’d be pushing that button if I got stranded.
Always travel with a snowmachine in tow, except when the lead snowmachine has failed, in which case, well probably still tow the broken machine with the secondary machine, so you can repair it at your destination instead of in the middle of your return journey?
Travel by car, again while towing a secondary vehicle, because having a vehicle fail during a trip is clearly irresponsible?
I'm no expert in what living efficiently and safely in such a place is, but I know that in places like Svalvard, you are expected to be 100% independent and responsible for yourself because nobody is coming to your rescue. To the point that you shouldn't go out by yourself if you don't have a rifle that you know how to use, because you could run into polar bears or wolves.
So yeah, I think this guy most definitely could have been better prepared, don't ask me how, it's not the point. Clearly if your only means of survival when something goes wrong is your phone, you are unprepared to live in a place like that.
We don't know that he didn't have other means, just that he used this. And that he had appropriate clothes and firestarting materials.
So we know.
Mechanical failures happen.
It stands to reason that when you are in such conditions, you should be prepared for circumstances such as "what happens if my means of transportation breaks down".
It seems like a risk was taken, and when you take a risk and things go wrong and you need to be rescued, you are putting the lives of other people at risk.
Maybe it was all completely justified, but on paper it doesn't seem that way.