Um Lifting,
I apologize, you DID reference the correct procedure for landing on a slope: "We had a plan to pull pitch and do the approach again had it turned out to be steeper than we hoped (based upon what the attitude was as we lowered the collective)"
That is exactly what the CG pilot should have done. Why can't you bring yourself to speak that truth?
But then you proceed to blow it:
"I suspect that Mr. McCollough of Bell (since you're bandying his name about so freely) might even concede that a laden SAR aircraft alighting upon a slope of unknown pitch just might exceed its slope limitations settling upon the struts at night."
That's why Mr. McCollough is an authority, and you're not. He chose his words well: "If the pilot determines that he is APPROACHING the limit of lateral cyclic control margin... it is his responsibilityto abort the landing attempt." That was the safe thing to do, and no big deal to try again nearby. But they proceeded with an unsafe landing and it resulted in mission failure, and a SAR helicopter that was out of service for 48 hrs. Those are facts. If the slope had been steeper they could have had a dynamic rollover. It was completely unnecessary, as there were many safe, flat areas to land nearby and firefighters already on scene to point them out.
You have 4000 hrs in type?
This fellow SAR pilot had 12,858 hours in rotorcraft. I'm not impressed with his judgment, or yours.