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A beloved dog was saved from several feet of Alaska snow more than 50 hours after being separated from her owner during an avalanche.
LouLou, a 4-year-old huskydoodle, was out on a hike with her owner, Brian, and his friend in Chugach State Park in Anchorage, when the avalanche struck near Eklutna Lake, separating the dog from her owner.
Brian and his hiking partner suffered injuries, but were rescued and taken to hospital, without LouLou.
Lauren Padawer, LouLou’s other owner and Brian’s partner, said she was out of town when the incident happened, but quickly started organizing a search team to go out and find her lost dog.
Initial search parties had no luck finding LouLou, but they remained determined.
After 50 hours, two people involved in the search, Amanda Barker and Dave Beckett, went back out in a helicopter after receiving an AirTag ping with the dog’s location.
Video shows Barker and Beckett landing the helicopter as close to the AirTag ping as they could.
Spotting the white pooch standing in the snow in the distance, alive, they began making their way to her.
They got out of the helicopter, climbing through the snow on their hands for 20 minutes to reach LouLou, who barked as they got closer to her.
The pair called her by name, trying to get her to come along with them, but she was hesitant at first.
“Come on, sweetheart,” Barker said. “Let’s go for a ride, LouLou.”
Eventually, the pair were able to leash the pup, slowly and carefully sliding down the mountainside to get back to the helicopter.
The last clip shows LouLou getting lots of love and well-deserved pets on the helicopter after her journey.
“To Dave, Amanda, Kathy, Barney, James, the ground search parties, the military pararescue personnel, and everyone who offered a hand: thank you,” Padawer said on Facebook.
“I will never forget what you did for LouLou, for Brian, his hiking partner, and for me. Sometimes it takes a mountain to remind you how extraordinary people can be.”