Yes, as grist to the mill, Igor noted in his diary words to the effect that camping in the slope, compared to the forest would be rough. However, I believe he wrote it in anticipation of doing so and ironically saving the expedition because conditions were worse than they initially anticipated. I think they did just that, camped on the slope, but were driven off by circumstance. You can not reason with snow and ice. You can not reason with a pack of wolves. It wasn't wolves, it was the snow that surely sent them downhill.