Pulling it down hill with no brakes might have had something to do with it...
If the toy doesn't have any brakes, and you have to drag it down a hill, how would you keep it from rolling into the tow vehicle, and how do you keep it from rolling in the wrong direction on a series of tight turns? Its not like you can slow it down or stop it by stepping on the brakes.
Sure, if they had a piece of pipe or something to put over the tow rope/chain to keep the distance between the two trucks spaced a specific distance apart, it would have been a different story. That probably isn't something you would expect to carry on mountain climbing off road. I suspect hiring a real towing and recovery company to recover it from way out in the sticks would probably have cost more then the truck was worth. Drag it to the bottom, take it home, and fix it. You have a great story to tell along with the dents to prove it.
Extreme off road has consequences, don't play the game if you can't handle the possible results. Gene