The dog was accompanied by two experienced mountaineers when an avalanche swept the men about 500 feet off a mountain ridge in Chugach State Park

NEED TO KNOW

• LouLou was separated from two mountaineers after an avalanche in Alaska swept them roughly 500 feet from a Chugach State Park ridge on Oct. 10
• More than 20 people joined the search, including a scent dog and pilots tracking the poodle-husky mix’s AirTag
• LouLou was found largely uninjured after her owner helped search remotely while overseas for her father’s 80th birthday

A 4-year-old poodle-husky mix was found alive in the Alaska wilderness after surviving an avalanche on Oct. 10.

The dog, named LouLou, was accompanied by two experienced mountaineers, according to Scripps News, when an avalanche swept the men about 500 feet off a mountain ridge in Chugach State Park.

While both men survived serious injuries and were transported to a hospital, LouLou was nowhere to be found.

Lauren Padawer, one of the hikers’ girlfriends, shared on Facebook that she was overseas celebrating her dad’s 80th birthday when she came across a post sharing what had happened.

Featured On: https://people-app.onelink.me/HNIa/kz7l4cuf

After learning that her boyfriend Brian and his climbing partner were alive, she started reaching out to anyone she could think of who might help her find LouLou.

A glimmer of hope came from the realization that LouLou was wearing an AirTag, but her initial estimated location was off by nearly half a mile.

“On an ordinary map, that might not seem enormous. In the rugged Chugach Mountains, half a mile can mean an entirely different ridge, drainage, or mountainside especially with rapidly shifting and intermittently stormy weather,” she wrote.

More than 20 people began the search on the ground, including a scent dog.

The search continued with commercial land and sea pilots Amanda Barker and Dave Beckett, who were close enough to get another ping, before the weather ultimately ended the search for the day, Padawer said.

Although more than 5,000 miles away, Padawer helped with mapping, including comparing Apple’s satellite imagery alongside a separate map application to get a glimpse of the terrain where LouLou was.

Soon enough, she found the location where Barker and Beckett had gotten another ping. After about 50 hours, they located LouLou.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

LouLou left the incident “largely uninjured” and “still very much herself,” Padawer added in her post.

She described Barker and Beckett as “the heroes of LouLou’s rescue.”

“Their generosity, skill, and determination turned a desperate search into an extraordinary homecoming,” Padawer wrote. “And LouLou, in true LouLou fashion, accepted her rescue with cautious dignity. Apparently, even 50 hours alone in the Chugach Mountains wasn’t enough to make her abandon her standards for meeting new people.”

#Dog #Missing #Hours #Alaska #Avalanche #Apple #AirTag