Geneva: A 19-year-old American student who disappeared over the weekend while skiing in the Swiss Alps was rescued after 48 harrowing hours lost in the snow, police said Wednesday.

After searching for more than two days rescuers finally found the US teen, who went missing while skiing Sunday near the Diablerets resort in southern Switzerland, police in the canton of Vaud said in a statement. "The man was found conscious, in a state of hypothermia and exhaustion, and stuck waist-deep in the thick blanket of snow," the statement said, describing his survival as "miraculous".