I have lived in Oregon most of my life (except when off doing the soldier bit) I have investigated accidents and deaths. It is always sad to find that no one decision cost someone their life. Usually it is chain of events and bad decisions and poor preperation that lead to a catastrophic situation. When you notify the next of kin, deep in your mind you want to scream out that the significant other died because he /she was a dumb**s.

I have had training in survival from the army, and I have learned in the infantry to try and anticipate all outcomes from a challenging situation.

when going into a new area, do a map recon or "never go anyplace for the first time"
when I am hunting or climbing or boating, I always have the ten essentials sheck out the following website.
you can change these slightly depending on the situation, but this is a good start. I think it would have saved his life.
http://www.backpacking.net/ten-essl.html