A four-year-old poodle-husky mix named LouLou was located alive and standing in the snow more than 50 hours after an avalanche separated her from two mountaineers in Alaska’s Chugach State Park.
The slide hit on October 10 near Pepper Peak, north of Eklutna Lake. The two experienced climbers were carried roughly 500 feet down a ridge. Both survived serious injuries—including a fractured vertebra, broken jaw, broken ribs, and a severe hand injury—and were airlifted to a hospital by pararescuers. LouLou, who was wearing an Apple AirTag, was left behind in the backcountry.
Lauren Padawer, partner of one of the injured men, was overseas for her father’s 80th birthday when she learned what had happened. After confirming the climbers were stable, she posted on Facebook with the dog’s approximate AirTag coordinates and asked for help, writing that it was unknown whether LouLou had survived. More than 20 people responded, among them ground searchers, a scent dog, drone operators, and helicopter pilots.
Conditions slowed the effort. Snow, steep terrain, and shifting weather turned some teams around. The AirTag gave searchers a starting point, though its first location reading was nearly half a mile off—enough, in that mountain country, to put people on a different drainage. Padawer continued working remotely, comparing satellite images with maps to tighten the search area.
Roughly two days after the avalanche, volunteer pilots Amanda Barker and Dave Beckett picked up another signal from the air. They landed as close as the terrain allowed and spent about 20 minutes climbing through deep snow, at times on hands and knees. From the helicopter they had seen LouLou standing upright, watching them. As they approached and called her name, she barked and howled. They leashed her and brought her out by air.
A vet found only a broken toe and a missing canine tooth. Padawer later said LouLou was otherwise healthy and “still very much herself.” When she received a photo of the dog standing and watching the helicopter, she told Alaska’s News Source she “just burst into tears.” She called Barker and Beckett “the heroes of LouLou’s rescue,” citing their skill and determination.
LouLou is now home and recovering. The search drew quick, widespread help from the local outdoor community once Padawer’s appeal went out.
