Why is it that you can survive a high fall into deep snow but not water?

Question

Why is it that you can survive a high fall into deep snow but not water?

In: Physics

Answer 1

Same reason falling onto sand would kill you, but a fall into a giant ball pit likely wouldn’t.

The snowflakes are only barely touching compared to water, which gives them lots of space to ‘give’ and compress.

Water, on the other hand, has no room to compress and has to be moved out of the way. Still better than solid ground (which wouldn’t move at all), but not ideal.