Dog found alive 4 days after avalanche kills owner

Sadly there were several fatal avalanche accidents over the New Year's weekend, including 3 in Montana/Wyoming and another in BC near Revelstoke. However, one of these tragedies was followed by a surprising bit of good news:

A dog that was feared dead after it was swept away in a weekend avalanche that killed its owner showed up four days later at the Montana motel where its owners had stayed the night before going backcountry skiing.

Search and rescue team member Bill Whittle said he was "positive" that the Welsh corgi - named Ole - had been buried in Saturday's avalanche.

"The avalanche guys were up there on Monday investigating and they were looking for the dog too and never seen any signs," he said.

But on Wednesday, Ole showed up exhausted and hungry back at the motel, four miles from where the slide occurred, the Billings Gazette reported.

...

www.komonews.com/news/offbeat/Dog-found-...nche--136768583.html
or seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationwor...rvivesavalanche.html

Details of this accident:
www.mtavalanche.com/accident/12/01/05
www.mtavalanche.com/sites/default/files/...0Fatality_PUBLIC.pdf

Links to other accidents:
www.avalanche.org/accidents.php

Condolences to the families and friends of all the victims.

The dog-owner was David Gaillard, 44, a tireless advocate for lynx, wolverines and other Northern Rockies carnivores.  He may have been maintaining remote cameras when killed near Cooke City:
www.wildlifeartjournal.com/blog/361/in-m...vid-gaillard-44.html