Where I'm from at least, winter tent camping is actually a pretty common activity. And the weather definitely doesn't stop long term tent-based settlements from cropping up either (see: Purple Hills near Durango, CO, which lasted about four years)

Likewise. A winter (4-season) tent won’t collapse under a snow load. It also won’t keep you from starving in the wilderness. As food went, they found one package of ramen among them. Sad story. But it doesn’t sound like the tent containing the two bodies was the issue is all.