'She is a survivor': Squamish mountain runner missing on the Matterhorn

The Vancouver Sun
A clear view of the spectacular Matterhorn isn't guaranteed, especially if your Zermatt visit is a quick one. (photo: Gretchen Strauch).

Friends and family are holding out hope after the search for Kalie McCrystal, a competitive mountain runner and lawyer from Squamish, was suspended after responders scouring a peak in the Swiss Alps could find no trace of her.

McCrystal, 37, has been missing since Tuesday after disappearing while training for a record attempt at traversing the famed Matterhorn mountain that sits on the Swiss-Italian border.

“She’s a world-class athlete, an experienced mountaineer and one of the best sky runners in the world,” Amelia Boultbee, a friend of McCrystal from law school and MLA for Penticton-Summerland, wrote on Facebook.

“Kalie is an elite athlete who trains for these conditions and we know in our hearts she is a survivor. Please pray with us for the safe return of Kalie McCrystal.”

In a statement Athletics Canada said: “She has extensive knowledge and experience of alpine terrain and had previously climbed the Matterhorn.”

They said her family is directly involved in the search.

McCrystal last seen by near the Jean-Antoine Carrel hut, which is at an elevation of nearly four kilometres, as she ascended towards the summit. Both search and rescue personnel on the ground and those conducting helicopter searches suspended their efforts after failing to find any sign of her.

McCrystal was training for an attempt to complete summit and return to the ground in under five hours up the Italian side of the mountain on the Switzerland-Italian border, after completing a solo ascent and descent in seven hours from the Swiss side in August. She’d also run races in Argentina and Italy, as well as holding the record for the Tantalus Traverse in Squamish, her time of nine hours and 40 minutes besting the previous record by more than three hours.

She is also an instructor of legal studies in Capilano University’s Faculty of Business and Professional Studies.

Aerial search crews had used several helicopters in the search, while groundcrews scoured the rock faces, gullies and trails. They didn’t find any sign of McCrystal, nor pings from her cellphone or any potential beacons she might have been carrying.

While the search has been suspended, the mountain is frequently climbed by guides and other recreationists, all of whom will be on the lookout to provide any clues for searches to resume their investigation.

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