But what if the cavefish had (in a move similar to Emett's) dumped a load of Twinkees into the ravine? According to the Twinkee Project's Gravitational Response Test (
http://www.twinkiesproject.com/gravitational.html ), Ripburger could have survived a fall onto these. Add in the possibility of water (
http://www.twinkiesproject.com/solubility.html ) and you have a really good chance that he survived.
If that's not the case, maybe he survived by landing at the straws I'm grasping at....