[toddc]

Although the article is written in a slightly humorous vein, the concept may be valid; there's the case of 28 year old woman who fell 300 feet onto a rock and survived (see http://www.sjtrem.com/content/19/1/63 ) tl;dr--if your lower extremities progressively absorb the impact, the lethal forces on the spine and head can be lessened enough to survive.