The Hand-Carved Air Pocket

Patrik Jagunić survived more than seven hours beneath avalanche snow in Lyngen, northern Norway. (Digital Illustration: GoBeyondLocal)

The Hand-Carved Air Pocket

The avalanche came down at Lyngspollen in Lyngen, northern Norway, on 18 March 2025. Patrik Jagunić was caught in it and buried beneath the snow.

The snow pinned him in place and left him with very little room to move. The small space around his face became the only area where he could work.

Jagunić began scraping snow away with his fingers.

Jagunić, a 39-year-old Slovenian tourist, was in Lyngen as part of a group of three foreign tourists. The area is known for ski touring, and avalanche danger was high at the time.

The avalanche struck during the afternoon. One person from the group was swept towards the fjord, got out of the water and alerted emergency services. Jagunić and another woman were still buried or trapped within the avalanche area.

Jagunić was trapped beneath the snow and understood what had happened.

He began creating space around his face so he could breathe and work.

Jagunić worked with the little movement available to him. He scraped snow away first with one finger and then with two.

Gradually, he created a small air pocket around his face.

The opening provided air and allowed him to keep clearing snow.

He thought about his wife and three children as he worked through the dark.

The snow held his body in place, while the pocket around his face gave him enough space to move his arms.

His mobile phone was in a pocket of his clothing, beyond his reach at first.

He kept removing snow around his body. The work was slow because he had little room to move. Eventually, he reached the phone and pulled it from his pocket.

Jagunić called for help.

By then, the rescue operation was already under way. The call confirmed that someone was alive beneath the avalanche and could communicate with rescuers.

He stayed in contact with rescuers while they searched for his position.

The search continued through the evening.

Rescue dog Whisky and his handler, Kristian Midtgård, later joined the search. Whisky was a five-year-old border collie trained for avalanche searches.

The dog and Midtgård searched through the avalanche debris. After about ten minutes in the relevant part of the search area, Whisky detected Jagunić and moved towards the spot where he was buried.

Midtgård described the discovery as unexpected because Jagunić had already spent several hours beneath the snow.

Rescue workers began digging where Whisky had marked the location. Jagunić was about 1.5 metres below the snow surface.

More than seven hours had passed since the avalanche buried him.

When rescuers reached him, Jagunić was alive and conscious.

Avalanche researcher Audun Hetland of the University of Tromsø said people buried beneath avalanche snow commonly suffocate within about ten minutes, making survival for seven hours exceptionally rare.

Rescuers dug through roughly 1.5 metres of snow and lifted Jagunić out alive after more than seven hours beneath the avalanche. He was then transported to a hospital in Tromsø for emergency treatment.