there are a lot of variables - age, elevation, striking things on the way down, etc.

go here to learn about how a window washer survived a 47 story fall: story

and here for a medical study from 1971 that breaks down 200 surgical cases of people who fell: surgical study

bottom line - (1) do not hit your head ( no, duh ), and (2) try to not injure your pelvis - it's a leading indicator for increased mortality rates.

open hijack

and then there's stewardess who holds the world's record by surviving a 33,000 foot fall without a parachute - although she was surrounded by an airplane: Ms. Vesna Vulovi

close hijack

I suspect there may be a big difference in survivability in falls depending upon whether you are talking about urban situations or wilderness environments; aid generally arrives a lot more quickly in an urban setting.

The rule of thumb I developed ater experiencing the results of several fall victims was that fall heights of over 40 feet were usually fatal. I can recall one fatality who fell a mere ten feet and I think I remember one who survived a 50 foot fall. And then there was the guy who fell about 300 feet - definitely DOA.

Much depends upon the surface upon which you land. A rocky surface is typically rather bad. Consider also the nature of the fall. Are we talking a free fall or a sliding fall where the victim might not build up so much speed.

There are instances of climbers surviving fairly long fall - well over fifty feet. Those were cases where the belay system worked to slow down the impact. There are plenty of fatalities at lesser heights as well.

I would not wish to experience a fall of thirty feet, especially a free fall. I have walked away from sliding falls around thirty feet in length - I can recall about two instances, but I an not anxious to push my luck.

Another hijack...

I fell from 30' off the side of a rock bluff. As I was falling I luckily hit a tree branch. I grabbed hold and rode a what turned out to be a small tree gently to the ground. I landed standing up. It was incredible. I will never forget that one.

End hijack. merry Christmas. Ok now end hijack.

"
Is this a fact? A 30' fall usually kills? That's around 3 stories, I guess. It seems that people have survived that jumping out the window in fires."

Don't know of that is true or not.
But if it is - I am one of the lucky few.
I took a 25-30 foot leader fall while rock climbing many years ago. Came away with a bloody nose and a broken ankle. Could have been much worse.

There are infamous stories of people who took longer falls - and died. But death was not immediate. One guy got up after a 60-foot fall, and was talking to people for half an hour. But eventually died due to rupture of his spleen and internal blood loss.

As far as the original story is concerned .... the desert is tricky at night because the lighting can be very sharp. If there is a full moon (or mostly full), bright areas are quite bright and shadows can seem very dark. The visual cues may have deceived these guys into believing they were on less dangerous terrain than they actually were.

Pete 2

If your belayer was on top of things, the force of your fall would have been lessened by the stretching of the rope. Leader falls of that length and longer are not incredibly uncommon in rock climbing, but it is not the same thing as taking a thirty footer unbelayed without any deceleration and just going splat! on the ground.

Falls of any type depend on the person(s) definition of a fall.

For example: A 30 foot fall while roped into a belay system is not the same fall as a 30 foot fall down a cliff where your "fall" may be slowed up by undergrowth etc and you do not suffer any significant injuries and walk away. In other words, your fall was mostly a slide and tumble down.

Another example: If you did indeed free fall 30 feet off a cliff without being slowed on the descent, you may land on fairly soft terrain and walk away. If you are not quite so lucky, a bone fracture may of occurred but you are still in one piece and live another day.

On the other hand, a 30 foot free fall of a cliff onto some rocks at the bottom will probably result in some major injuries if not death.

Again, the definition of the fall must be ascertained and put into perspective when discussing.