I'm going to jump from the 16th floor. Can I survive if I fall in the snow?

[der golem]

There are no snowdrifts. There is a snow layer about 10 centimeters thick. Is there any chance I'll survive if I fall on this?

 

[forgetme]

Depends on which way you land.. 16 stories might paralyze you instead of give you the outcome you're looking for.

 

[Somber]

There are no snowdrifts. There is a snow layer about 10 centimeters thick. Is there any chance I'll survive if I fall on this?

People have survived falling from planes without parachutes where tree branches broke the fall. While 10cm of snow might not cushion much of a blow, I wouldn't count on reliably dying from it.

 

[rudebeat]

You could survive even if you landed on concrete with no snow. I don't know the exact odds but there are a few statistics out there for you to look up to help you decide if you'd really want to jump. I'll just say the odds of survival are probably higher than you'd think.

 

[ExRN]

There are no snowdrifts. There is a snow layer about 10 centimeters thick. Is there any chance I'll survive if I fall on this?

I was on the 18th floor tonight visiting family and, although jumping is not something I can do (I've tried), I could not stop thinking that you need to jump from 10+ stories high to be successful. A few inches of snow on the ground wouldn't make a 16 story jump survivable if you hit the pavement. The SI was *impossible* for me to overcome when I gave jumping a "try" a few years ago (from the top of a parkade)... "try" in quotes because I climbed to the top, looked down and didn't try to jump.

 

[S like Siren]

There are no snowdrifts. There is a snow layer about 10 centimeters thick. Is there any chance I'll survive if I fall on this?

the 16th floor is very good in terms of height, I read every day of people committing suicide from the 4th floor (I always think ... fuck how lucky you are not paralyzed) .The problem is the snow ... I wouldn't risk it, wait for it to melt.

 

[broken_songbird]

Probably too late to chime in here, but for future reference YES the snow can absolutely spare your life, depending on the impact angle and the snow pack. Because snow is made of tiny granules and each granule has a complex shape, snow has a much greater surface area than concrete even at a depth of 10 centimeters. This lessens the impact because your weight is disbursed over a much larger area. It's like jumping into a shallow vat of feathers or diving into shallow water. You'll undoubtedly be seriously injured, but I wouldn't bet on fatality. Snow and the cold conditions could also cause a preservative effect should you survive the jump. When folks go into coma, one standard procedure is therapeutic hypothermia where the patient's body temperature is lowered significantly to slow metabolism. This is done because it's been clinically proven to preserve life. They figured it out because of people who survived fatal accidents in snowy places.

the 16th floor is very good in terms of height, I read every day of people committing suicide from the 4th floor (I always think ... fuck how lucky you are not paralyzed) .The problem is the snow ... I wouldn't risk it, wait for it to melt.

Fourth floor is gutsy, I agree. It's almost like asking for paralysis.

 

[theboy]

mmm that idea does not sound good, friend.

 

[Messgram]

I read a case where a girl jumped from a similar height and survived because of the snow. I wouldn't risk it.