Trailrunner Kalie McCrystal, 38, has been missing on the Italian side of the Matterhorn since September 1. She disappeared on a training/scouting trip to prepare for a Fastest Known Time (FKT) attempt via the Lion’s Ridge. McCrystal aimed to complete the round trip in under five hours.
The runner, a resident of Squamish, B.C., was last seen almost a week ago above Capanna Carrel, a small mountain hut at 3,830m. This is the usual starting point for the Lion’s Ridge, the normal climbing route on the Italian side.
The Carrel hut. Photo: Guide del Cervino
The Matterhorn has seen numerous rockfalls and incidents due to extreme heat this summer, but it is also a coveted goal for FKT collectors. In particular, the peak has seen fierce competition among female runners, despite the dangerous conditions. There is an ongoing debate about the methods and safety measures used on the mountain, with large sections requiring scrambling or climbing with ropes. Read more about the debate here.
Helicopter search suspended
McCrystal during a training climb on the Matterhorn in August. Photo: Kalie McCrystal/Instagram
Helicopters searched for her until Thursday, on both the Italian and Swiss sides of the mountain, but found no trace of the runner. Crews used a RECCO transmitter, hoping to get a signal in case she had gear equipped with that kind of reflector, which is common in ski and winter climbing clothing, but found none. Nor were they able to find a signal from her cellphone. Since then, the aerial search has been suspended, but guides on the mountain have been asked to look for signs of her.
Set FKT on Swiss side
McCrystal is a highly skilled athlete. In late July, she set the FKT for the traverse of Squamish’s Tantalus Peak. Her time of nine hours and 40 minutes was one-third of the previous record.
At the beginning of August, she traveled to Switzerland and immediately started training on that side of the Matterhorn. On August 14, she set off on her own and bagged the FKT of the Hornli route, completing the return trip from Zermatt in six hours, 47 minutes, and 33 seconds.
“I intended this to be a recon run, but it ended up faster than I thought,” McCrystal reported to the FKT database.
Her next goal was to move to the Italian side of the peak and repeat the feat.
Female FKT Competition
While she was there, she learned that a big rockfall hit the Italian side of the mountain on August 6.
“[The rockfall was] not on the route, but close enough to unstaff the refuge and stop guided parties,” she wrote on social media at the time. “Hot days and stormy nights are never great news for large piles of rock.”
She also said she would wait for better conditions and for the mountain to be completely open before attempting her FKT. Indeed, the Company of Guides of Cervino had stopped taking clients up the Italian side’s routes.
At the end of July, Jenni Jalonen of Sweden set the female FKT from Cervinia along the Lion’s Ridge route in a time of 4h 19 min to the summit and 7h 29 min for the return trip.
But while the guides — and McCrystal — refrained from climbing on the route in August, Karina Andersen of the U.S. surpassed Jalonen’s FKT less than two weeks later, on August 9. She started from Cervinia and took 5h 14m 53s for the return trip, more than two hours faster than Jalonen.
“I’d say the rock seems no more unstable than it likely was all summer, given the many heat waves,” Andersen reported. “It is understandable that guiding with that, plus the recent unpredictable thunderstorms, would not be ideal. I’d certainly wouldn’t want to take a roped client up right now, [but] fewer people on the route made competent soloing feel much better than with many parties up there.”
Conditions improved
Meanwhile, McCrystal remained on the Swiss side, where she set her FKT. Then, on August 22, she finished fourth among women at the Trailrunning Kima Trophy in Val Masino, in the Italian Alps.
Conditions improved at the end of August, and the guiding company reported they would resume their work and that the Carrel hut would reopen on August 29. Three days later, McKrystal went up to scout the route. That was the last time she was seen.
The Matterhorn from its southern, Italian side. Photo: Shutterstock
