Story summary
Kalie McCrystal, a 38-year-old Canadian athlete from Squamish, B.C., went missing while attempting to break a mountain-running record on the Italian side of the Matterhorn, a 4,481-metre-tall mountain straddling the Swiss-Italian border. She was last seen on Tuesday, September 1st above the Jean-Antoine Carrel hut at an altitude of approximately 3,830 metres. McCrystal had previously climbed the Matterhorn and had many years of experience in high-altitude and technical mountain terrain.
A helicopter search operation was conducted by Aosta Valley Mountain Rescue, but it was called off after several flights on Thursday turned up no trace of McCrystal or any evidence that may have provided a clue to her route. Since then, regular mountain guides have been searching for her. The Italian rescue team is now trying to obtain data from McCrystal's phone to "triangulate" her location using Italian and Swiss cellphone towers.
McCrystal was hoping to ascend and descend the Matterhorn in less than five hours during her record attempt. Her family, friends, and colleagues are holding out hope for her safe return.
Written for “Canadian Missing in Mountain Climb” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.
Rescue efforts in the Italian Alps for missing British Columbian mountaineering athlete Kalie McCrystal focused on tracking her movements using data from her phone’s SIM chip after helicopter searches were suspended.
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searches → miss → chip
There were no reports by late Sunday, European time, that the effort had determined the approximate location where she went missing on Tuesday.
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she → be → Tuesday
She was training to break the skyrunning, or mountain racing, record for ascending and descending the Matterhorn, the 4,478-metre mountain that straddles the Italian-Swiss border in the Western Alps.
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that → train → Alps
A helicopter search conducted by Aosta Valley Mountain Rescue was called off after several search-and-rescue flights on Thursday failed to locate Ms. McCrystal or any evidence, such as gear that she was carrying, that may have provided a clue to her route.
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that → conduct → route
“The family is confident that everything is being done to find Kalie,” her friend Nicole Lacis, a trail runner and lawyer who lives in Vancouver, told The Globe and Mail.
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who → do → Globe
Ms. McCrystal was last spotted on Tuesday afternoon at a mountain shelter on the Italian side of the Matterhorn, about 650 metres below the summit.
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McCrystal → spot → summit
Italy’s La Stampa newspaper on Sunday said the mountain rescue team of Guardia di Finanza, which operates under the Italian economy ministry, was trying to obtain data from mobile-phone operators to “triangulate” – find the position of – her device using Italian and Swiss cellphone towers.
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which → say → towers
Rescuers who talked to Ansa, the Italian news service, said Ms. McCrystal, 38, was wearing light clothing – shorts and a jacket – that would make it hard to spot her.
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it → talk → her
Live webcams showed patches of snow on the Matterhorn at 2,555 metres and almost full snow at 3,480 metres.
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webcams → show → metres
Its summit makes it the Alps’ sixth-highest mountain.
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it → make → mountain
Athletics Canada on Saturday said Ms. McCrystal was on “reconnaissance/training” ahead of her attempt to break the up-and-down skyrunning Matterhorn record.
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McCrystal → say → record
“Kalie is an experienced skyrunner and mountaineer, with many years of experience on technical and high-altitude mountain environments,” the statement said.
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statement → say → environments
“She has extensive knowledge and experience of alpine terrain and previously climbed the Matterhorn.”
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She → have → Matterhorn
Ms. McCrystal’s deep background and strong finishes in skyrunning convinced the rescue team that she was not being reckless on the Matterhorn.
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she → convince → Matterhorn
“She is an absolutely incredible athlete,” Ms. Lacis said.
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Lacis → say → ?
“She is very experienced on this kind of terrain, and from my understanding has done much harder routes.
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She → do → routes
She is diligent and disciplined.
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She → discipline → ?
She did not do this on a whim.
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She → do → whim
“The whole rescue team have reiterated to us several times that they do not believe Kalie was being irresponsible or reckless.
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Kalie → reiterate → us
They observed her through a telescope for a period of time on Tuesday and could see that she was moving carefully and, by her standards, at a fairly relaxed pace.
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she → observe → pace
They have stressed to us that this appears to have been a tragic accident, one which could happen to anyone in the mountains, including themselves.
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which → stress → themselves
Skyrunning was pioneered in Italy in the early 1990s.
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Skyrunning → pioneer → 1990s
It is a running, not mountain-face climbing, race that favours endurance athletes skilled enough to handle twisty, steep routes that are often treacherous.
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that → favour → routes
The races are run at 2,000 metres or higher with inclines of 5 per cent to 30 per cent.
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races → run → cent
The distances usually covered are 20 to 50 kilometres and can take three to eight hours to complete.
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distances → cover → hours
Ms. McCrystal’s Aug. 7 Instagram post showed her at or near the top of the Matterhorn on a previous climb, smiling and holding onto the base of the big metal cross that commemorates the climbers who have died reaching the summit.
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who → show → summit
She was wearing a green jacket, dark shorts and a black helmet.
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She → wear → jacket
Her post read: “Been hanging out in Cervina, Italy, for the last few days in preparation for my big goal of the season – up and down the Matterhorn in under five hours via Lion’s Ridge.”
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post → read → Ridge
Her last Instagram post was on Aug. 23, when she completed one of the sport’s toughest high-altitude races, the Trofeo Kima, in Lombardy in the Italian Alps.
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she → complete → Alps
“After 50km and 4200 metres of boulders, chains, and mud, I crossed the line in 4th in 7:59, right on my goals.
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I → cross → goals
Sharing the start and finish line with so many badass women was a privilege.”
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Sharing → share → women
Ms. McCrystal is a lawyer who specializes in international arbitration.
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who → specialize → arbitration
Her Linkedin profile says she is an instructor in the school of legal studies at Capilano University, which has a campus in Squamish, B.C., where she lives.
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she → say → Squamish
