Canadian skyrunner Kalie McCrystal went missing while on a training session for a record attempt to climb and descend the 14,692ft Matterhorn
The search for missing athlete Kalie McCrystal was called off last Friday
A Canadian skyrunning and mountain athlete has gone missing while preparing for a record attempt in the Alps.
Kalie McCrystal, 38, from Squamish, British Columbia, was on a training run on the Matterhorn, which straddles the Swiss-Italian border, ahead of her attempt to climb and descend the 14,692ft mountain in less than five hours, according to the Skyrunner World Series, a global mountain running championship.
McCrystal was last seen at around 3.45pm local time last Tuesday (September 1) above the mountain’s Jean-Antoine Carrel hut, located at an altitude of around 12,560ft, Canadian public broadcaster CBC reports. It is understood that she had already reached the summit and was making her way towards Cervinia via the Lion Ridge, the main route from the Italian side.
McCrystal is ‘a world-class skyrunning and mountain athlete’, the Skyrunner World Series said
The search by the Aosta Valley alpine rescue service and Guardia di Finanza in Cervinia, the local military police force, began immediately but was called off on Friday, after a full day of aerial searches the previous day failed to locate her, CBC reports.
Rescuers initially deployed a large air ambulance helicopter before switching to a smaller aircraft that could get closer to the mountain’s cliffs and narrow gullies.
Skyrunning is defined by the International Skyrunning Federation as running in the mountains at altitudes above 6,560ft, where the climbing difficulty does not exceed Grade II and the incline is more than 30 per cent. The federation was formed in 2008 to govern the sport.
McCrystal had previously climbed the Matterhorn
“We just want her to come home safe,” said Duncan O’Regan, a friend of McCrystal, told CBC. “And we miss her here. So we’re just crossing our fingers.”
He said her attempt to climb the Matterhorn was “well within her capabilities”, adding: “She’s done much more difficult things, and this is not something that is beyond her capabilities. She’s comfortable in this terrain.”
The Skyrunner World Series described McCrystal as “a world-class skyrunning and mountain athlete, with many years of experience in high-altitude and technical mountain terrain”, who had climbed the Matterhorn in the past.
“Our thoughts and hopes are with Kalie, her family, and those closest to her at this incredibly difficult time as we pray for her safe return,” it added.
McCrystal is also a lawyer and staff member at Capilano University in North Vancouver. “Our thoughts are with Kalie’s family, friends and colleagues, and with everyone involved in the search efforts during this incredibly difficult time,” said Jason Dewling, the university’s president and vice-chancellor.