one thing some folks forget is that a climb may be steep at the start, but becomes avalanche angle near the top or even in the middle. Pinnacle is a funny climb in that it's steep at the start then eases off to a snow climb at about a 30/45 degree angle, and then steepens near the top and then it is yet another snow slope again where you slog up to the alpine garden. thus it can be a difficult climb to assess. I'm not sure where he was swept off or if he did trigger it himself. the news report talks about being sweep 1000 feet down the fan, but it's 800' from the base of the gully to the bottom of the fan!
honestly, considering how things had been over the preceding couple of days, I'm not sure of what I would have climbed up there, if anything, if it was me. I've sure turned around enough times over the years and written the day off to a "nice walk"! FWIW I have climbed Odell when it looked good for 2 pitches, and then right at the top there was a pillow of snow that I KNEW was unstable so I popped in v-threads and bailed. I felt fine about that too...
to paraphrase R Heinlein , the mountain is a harsh mistress!