Which is all irrelevant to the facts. There was a mountain in the way. When you can't get NDB, TACAN, VHF radio or expected radar coverage, SURELY someone might think 'hmmm what is there around here that might possibly be blocking a signal from the ground based equipment? Surely not a huge fkn mountain..'
Not to mention the fact you've just said yourself "very hard to tell the difference between cloud and ice"; and your F/E has already asked "where's Erebus" and later "I don't like this".
The lack of situational awareness here was massive. And that, of course, followed the initial doozy decision to descend below MSA without radar guidance in marginal VMC.