why didn't joe wait out the wolves?
I know they were freezing and anxious but why didn't Joe wait on that other chair or at the top of the ladder while the wolves were down below? Wouldn't the wolves go for their easiest meal? They wouldn't wait for hours to see if dinner was coming to them. Then Joe may have made it down alive.
Just another thought: when Joe was thinking the girl he met would pay for their house and Steve the dog he obviously didn't consider his huge settlement from the ski resort.