Canadian Skyrunner Kalie McCrystal Missing on Matterhorn After Training Run

Skyrunner World Series

According to the Skyrunner World Series, McCrystal was last seen on Tuesday after successfully reaching the Matterhorn’s summit. Her final known location was on the Italian side of the mountain near a shelter situated at an elevation of approximately 12,500 ft. There has been no further contact with her, and no one has seen or heard from her since, the Skyrunner World Series said in the press release.

Athletics Canada

Athletics Canada said in a statement that McCrystal’s family is continuing to work with mountain rescue services. Amelia Boultbee, a close friend of McCrystal’s dating to their time together at law school at the University of British Columbia, described McCrystal as an “elite athlete” in peak physical condition. She’s a live wire, Boultbee said in a phone conversation. She’s a really fun person. She’s extremely focused. She’s very determined, really smart. She’s one of the most disciplined people you could ever meet, and yeah, we’re really worried about her. Boultbee said McCrystal’s family is working with Italian authorities, trying to figure out when her phone last stopped receiving messages, and asked for anyone who may have had contact with McCrystal between 15:45 CET (9:45 a.m. EDT) Tuesday and 9:26 CET (3:26 a.m. EDT) Wednesday to reach out to her X account.

Athletics Canada noted in its statement that McCrystal was an experienced skyrunner and mountaineer with many years of experience in technical and high-altitude mountain environments. She has extensive knowledge and experience of alpine terrain and had previously climbed the Matterhorn. This was therefore not her first ascent of the mountain, the statement said. Skyrunning involves running and scrambling at altitudes higher than 6,600ft, and McCrystal was hoping to ascend and descend the Matterhorn in less than five hours during her record attempt.

McCrystal has set several skyrunning records in Canada and Europe. In February, she won the 4 Refugios Non-Stop race in Bariloche, Argentina, finishing the nearly 40-kilometer course, which peaked at 3,350 meters (10,991 feet), in 6 hours, 21 minutes, 10 seconds. According to the Fastest Known Time database, McCrystal successfully traversed the Matterhorn on the Hörnli Ridge round trip from Zermatt, Switzerland, in 6:47:33 on Aug. 14, after starting from the Italian side. In her uploaded report on that August run, she wrote that she briefly lost her way, noting: “I intended this to be a recon run, but ended up faster than I thought… I’m not sure why the FKT takes this route, it is definitely not the most direct. But I followed it, including to the Italian cross!… Rocked the descent from Hornlihutte, made one wrong turn I retraced my steps on, and made it back to the church for sub-7. Wish I had refilled food and water, but alas, no time for that!”

Fastest Known Time database

A helicopter search for McCrystal was called off on Friday after rescuers could find no trace of the athlete. McCrystal’s friend and fellow mountain runner Duncan O’Regan told CBC that he did not believe the athlete had taken unnecessary risks before she went missing, stating: I know that this objective was well within her capabilities. She’s done much more difficult things, and this is not something that is beyond her capabilities. She’s comfortable in this terrain. Riley Webb, another close friend from Squamish who has known her for about five years, described her as an accomplished mountain runner, lawyer, and deeply caring friend, adding: I think she was a very inspiring person.

McCrystal is a lawyer and staff member at Capilano University in North Vancouver, with her LinkedIn profile listing her as a part-time instructor at the Capilano University School of Legal Studies as well as a former senior associate for Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. 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.