A climber accidentally slips off a cliff and falls freely from a height of 20 m before landing in a snowbank that compresses 1.5 m to cushion the fall. If the climber has a mass of 60 kg, calculate the average decelerating force exerted by the snowbank during the climber's landing.

• A. $3.9 \times 10^{3} \mathrm{~N}$
• B. $5.9 \times 10^{3} \mathrm{~N}$
• C. $7.8\times 10^3\mathrm{\ N}$
• D. $9.8 \times 10^{3} \mathrm{~N}$

Answer: (C)