Very sorry to hear about your friend. "Doing what he loved" only slightly diminishes the pain of losing someone from your life, forever.

Have known three climbers killed in falls and one backcountry skier killed in an avalanche, which both pains and humbles me WRT heading into the wilderness. The standard "You're more at danger on the drive to the trail" doesn't instruct us beyond a limited risk comparison. You can do everything right and the mountain still plays by its own set of rules. (I note that Washington had two avalanche deaths just last weekend.)

Best,