Skier hitting snowdrift: distance and force

[Stitch1775]

I need help, I've been staring at this problem for over an hour and trying to find similar problems online with no luck.

A 65 kg person is skiing down a hill. The skier's speed at the bottom is 15 m/s. If the skier hits a snowdrift and stops in .30s A)how far does the skier go into the drift? B)With what average force will he stike the drift? (his accel. is not constant)

for A would it be x=x_i+v_i t+1/2at^2 with a=-50m/s^2?
I think i can find B once I find A but a kick in the right direction would be great

 

[haruspex]

I need help, I've been staring at this problem for over an hour and trying to find similar problems online with no luck.

A 65 kg person is skiing down a hill. The skier's speed at the bottom is 15 m/s. If the skier hits a snowdrift and stops in .30s A)how far does the skier go into the drift? B)With what average force will he stike the drift? (his accel. is not constant)

for A would it be x=x_i+v_i t+1/2at^2 with a=-50m/s^2?
I think i can find B once I find A but a kick in the right direction would be great

The question is flawed. It tells you the acceleration is not constant, yet to answer the first part you have to assume that it is. So, yes, you can use that equation, though it is a little more direct to use distance = time x average speed.