Ever flown? I have a lot of logged hours. Flying back into a hill is suicide.
Watching that video, he couldn’t even make first clearing, couldn’t bleed altitude fast enough.
Whole thing was very easily avoidable by a simple hang check though.
Looking at the picture on the post, we can't tell where the draft is, but I would expect it is coming up the valley. Regardless; the minute he lifted and knew the passenger was unattached I would have banked left of the cabin shown and given him the chance to bail close to the ground so I could fly alone.
All that being said, the pilot did a good job thanks to the passenger fighting and hanging on for dear life.
Thinking about the story told in the movie, "Sully" and how a flight accident is reconstructed, there is only one pilot and second guessing what he feels and does is meaningless.