I agree, the cliffs did break his fall, I'm also guessing
the snow might of also. Dragon Tamer makes a good point, if
Steele is a malamute he is a tough breed, they have thick
bones which probably prevented him from getting a broken
bone. He probable would of survived in real life.

Its juist a cartoon and everybody doesn't want anyone to die
in the cartoon likle me because that would be kind of
violent ...

well, if you (dislike) steele, than you prababley would have
thought that. But he didn't die simpily because they needed
someone to make balto's trail longer, more adventure, and
more thrilling. Because you can't just "right away" put in a
new charicter...

that is kinda strange. he should have died. and didnt Balto
fall off a cliff?

balto_33 ---> True. But what's a story without an antagonist
(someone who causes trouble for the main character[s]).
And; maybe the ledges did. I looked back over the scene
and decided so: If Steele had fallen directly down, yes, he
would have died. BUT; he was also not falling very fast and
he SLID when he finally got to the bottom. Thus, he did not
have what is called a "direct fall."
But, you're
point could be it too (notice he is not back in the second
nor third movies, so maybe it killed him later on).

I THINK STEELE WAS A VERY PRETTY DOG,AND HE WOULD BE MY
FAVE CHARACTER IF HE WASN'T RUDE.

Well, I would have to say that I think the legdes didn't
help. Sure they slowed him down, but if he is falling at
that velocity against those legdes, most of his bones would
disentergrate . The animators kept him for the sake of
maybe...No breaking in half in a child's film?

He might as well have died, he played no important role
AFTER the cliff part...

Besides, I liked Steele
-and i dont think he should DIE.

Kari's point is true. BUT; it is also possible (though
highly unlikely) that he would have gotten away without
injury. Notice all the ledges that broke (and seemingly
slowed down) his fall. The cliff, though it was high, may
not have been though. Who knows, maybe it was over one
hundred feet. We don't know for sure, because we're fans of
the movie, not the people who made it. But I'm sure that the
reason he got up was because the other ledges broke his fall
(let alone, if you notice later in the movie, he still
sported a slight limp and was paying for the fall).

You'd be surprised what a body can handle. And if Steele's
a malamute like almost everybody's saying, he's from a breed
that's built to last.

I think he just got battered and bruised - dogs like Steele
were bred to be tough and endure such hardships. He is also
very strong. A weak dog, like Star, would've probably died.