Tango the Labrador Retriever has become a hero after pinpointing exactly where a skier had been buried under five feet of snow in an avalanche.

The skier – not named in local media – was rescued on a mountain outside Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego province, southern Argentina, on 9th July.

According to reports, two skiers were hit by an avalanche at around 8.30pm, and one of them was buried by around 1.5 metres (4.9 feet) of snow.

His pal sounded the alarm and a search party scoured the area for the man who had already been under the ice for an hour.

But it was not until Julian Elizari, 57, arrived with 10-year-old Tango that the search party was able to pinpoint the skier’s exact position.

Elizari told local media: “We were in the middle of dinner. I always have a bag packed, the family already accepts that”.

He added: “Tango starts jumping at the door because for him it is a game.”

Rescuers arrived at the scene at around 10pm.

Elizari said: “Tango started doing his job and covered around 10 kilometres when he started barking and scratching at the snow. He had found him.

“We started digging very carefully with shovels and then our hands. Tango even helped.

“It was quiet and we feared the worst, but then we suddenly found a hand.”

The search team said the man was able to slightly move his fingers and he was quickly dug out of the snow and rushed to a medical centre.

Elizari said: “I do not know how he survived. He was buried for over an hour when Tango found him.

“There was no air pocket and I think the snow must have weighed around 200 kilogrammes on top of him.”

An ambulance met the rescue team at the bottom of the mountain at around midnight.

At 2am, a spokesperson for the Ushuaia Regional Hospital said the victim was in a stable condition and remained under observation.