Had Collins not broken the rules, he would have been safe. Surely that is incontestable?
Had Collins been down before he might have been more aware of the dangers - whiteout - he might have behaved differently; not broken the rules. Can we agree on that?
The divergence seems to be: Factors most people accept contributed and help explain what happened, some people feel excuse Collin's decisions - a few even to the point he was blameless. Is that a fair assessment?
I think Collins left NZ determined to see Erebus. As circumstances changed he didn't, for whatever reasons: mindset. He made shocking error. That's what humans do, sometimes.
I don't understand the NZALPA mania - keeping the matter alive. It's pathetic.