LouLou, a four-year-old poodle-husky mix, is safe after about 50 hours alone in Alaska's Chugach State Park. She was with two experienced mountaineers when an avalanche swept them roughly 500 feet off a ridge on Saturday, October 10. Both men survived with serious injuries. Volunteers found LouLou alive and largely unhurt, Scripps News reported on October 13.

The story has been carried by many US local news stations and shared widely online this week. Here's what's confirmed so far.

What happened

The slide hit a ridge between Pepper Peak and Salt Peak, north of Eklutna Lake, according to SnowBrains. That's about 30 miles northeast of Anchorage. Your Alaska Link reports that the Alaska Air National Guard answered a request from Alaska State Troopers and sent a helicopter crew from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The rescuers stabilized the two men and flew them to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage.

LouLou was missing.

Lauren Padawer, the partner of one of the climbers, was traveling abroad when she saw a Facebook post about the avalanche, Scripps reported. Once she knew both men were alive, she turned to finding the dog. She posted appeals in local outdoor and pet groups, and people offered drones, helicopters and their own time on the mountain.

How the search narrowed

LouLou was wearing an Apple AirTag. According to Scripps, its signals kept coming from the same general area during the aerial searches, which gave volunteers a much smaller stretch of mountain to cover. Searchers reached her about 50 hours after the slide. Vice, citing Scripps, reported she was found standing in the snow, uninjured.

SnowBrains reported in an October 13 update that the Friends of Chugach Avalanche Center had also posted that she was found alive and well. Padawer told SnowBrains that both men have a very good prognosis for a full recovery.

What we know and don't know yet

Confirmed: the date, the general location, that both men were hospitalized and are expected to recover, and that LouLou was found alive after roughly two days on her own.

Not reported: the men's names, the exact spot where LouLou was found, or who reached her first. The Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center has issued a preliminary report on the slide, so more detail may follow.

What you can take from it

A dog who bolts after an accident can end up far from where you last saw her, and you may not be the one who goes looking. A few things make that search easier:

  • ID that works without you. A collar tag with a phone number and a microchip with current contact details let anyone who finds your dog reach you or a vet.
  • A tracker suited to where you go. In LouLou's case, the tag's signal helped searchers focus on one area. If you hike remote country, check how your tracker reports location there before you rely on it.
  • A plan for avalanche season. Friends of Chugach Avalanche used this incident to remind hikers and hunters that October avalanches happen in Alaska. The Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center recommends carrying a beacon, shovel and probe, traveling with a partner and telling someone your plans.
  • Spread the word wide and early. Padawer's posts in local outdoor and pet groups are what brought in the drones and helicopters. When a pet goes missing, share the details, a clear photo and the last known location in every local group you can.

LouLou got lucky, and so did the people who love her. The search worked because a lot of people kept looking in the right patch of snow.

Sources