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🇮🇹 Italy /Disasters & Emergencies

Canadian skyrunner missing after attempting Cervin record

From ANSA · () Italian

Translated from Italian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Rescue teams are searching for Canadian skyrunner Kalie McCrystal, who disappeared during a Matterhorn training attempt.
  • Her last known trace was a photograph taken on Sept. 1 above the Capanna Carrel at about 4,000 meters.
  • Helicopter searches, phone-cell analysis and a Recco detector sweep have found no signal, and operations have been suspended pending new information.

Kalie McCrystal came to Cervinia with an ambitious goal: climb and descend the Matterhorn in less than five hours via the Lion Ridge. The 38-year-old Canadian skyrunner and lawyer disappeared during another attempt on Tuesday.

A French friend raised the alarm after hearing nothing from McCrystal for 48 hours. The Aosta Valley Alpine Rescue service and the Cervinia unit of Italy’s Guardia di Finanza began searching for her.

In recent days I have been in Cervinia, Italy, preparing for my big goal of the season: climbing and descending the Matterhorn in under five hours via the Lion Ridge.

· Kalie McCrystalShe described her record attempt in a social-media post.

The last trace came on Sept. 1, when McCrystal was photographed climbing above Capanna Carrel, at about 4,000 meters. She was wearing shorts, a lightweight windbreaker, trail shoes and a small backpack, the equipment she had regularly used for fast outings. Rescuers said her white jacket made her difficult to spot among the mountain’s rocks.

I have only a few days for conditions to improve and for my sea-level-adapted lungs to adjust, so I have not lost hope and I am not giving up yet.

· Kalie McCrystalMcCrystal wrote about the conditions and preparation for her attempt.

Two helicopters carried out six high-altitude rotations, while firefighters joined the search. Authorities analyzed mobile-phone cells on both the Italian and Swiss sides, without locating her phone. They also made an aerial sweep for the Recco signal from her backpack, but detected nothing. The search has been suspended until new information can narrow the area.

Friends and relatives have expressed deep distress, and the article says hopes of finding her alive are extremely low. McCrystal had placed fourth in the Kima Trophy in Val Masino only 10 days earlier, completing a 52-kilometer race with 8,400 meters of elevation gain. Before returning to the Aosta Valley, she wrote that she had not given up hope of completing her Matterhorn project.

She was wearing a white jacket, which makes it even harder to spot her on the mountain among the rocks.

· RescuersRescuers explained why the search was difficult.
About this summary

Originally published by ANSA in Italian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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