The boys were prepared for a 10-day mountain hike so they were extremely well prepared and even had snowshoes, so their survival should have been a sure thing if they were older and more experienced, but 17 is very young and very inexperienced for serious emergencies, and there could have been gaps in their preparations and in their judgment of how to handle things and deal with the extreme cold and weather, and snow and time.
As it is the boys did well enough to survive so now they have this under their belt and had a good learning experience, with their intense interest in this activity, they will probably gain some real knowledge from it and from their future reading on winter camping and hiking.
Can’t criticize too much, they were prepared. BUT!
Preparation also includes checking the weather forecast.
Wasn’t this monster blizzard forecast for about a week or so ahead of time? Maybe the best thing they could have done was take a rain check. (Or a snow check anyway)
17 isn’t that young and sounds like they had experience.
Now they have more.