Great statement! It is easy to say "He should have done this and this because I would have." But, until that time comes no one really knows exactly what they will do in every situation.
Add on to that the people here who are suggesting that he was some sort of idiot. If he was born and raised in San Francisco or the Bay Area, then he was born and raised in a highly urban area where snow is extremely rare. Potential bad decisions by him were more based on ignorance than poor common sense. He was not an idiot.