Interesting topic.
the day VMC question is always a hot topic, and in my opinion visually avoiding terrain simply means that you see the hill as you run into it!
35 (or 50) ft isn't much, adding gross to net margins doesn't add much really, and in most cases if you depart RTOW (obstacle) limited and have a failure you will get GPWS etc blaring in your ear.
Saying that you can determine visually that you can miss that hill over there is unrealistic in many cases, and simply gives the pilots a false sense of security.
Another interesting topic is airmanship.
many are quick to accuse others of lacking airmanship, but to date I have yet to see the definitive manual on airmanship.
What is one persons definition is different to another.
Food for thought!