Helicopter operations have been suspended, but the search for Squamish runner and mountaineer Kalie McCrystal is still underway after she vanished Tuesday afternoon descending the Matterhorn’s Lion’s Ridge toward Cervinia, Italy.
No sign of McCrystal has been found and rescuers have not detected a cellphone signal; crews initially used a large air ambulance helicopter before shifting to a smaller aircraft better suited to the mountain’s steep faces and gullies.
McCrystal’s family said she had reached the summit during a reconnaissance outing and had no contact afterward, despite being an experienced skyrunner who had previously climbed the Matterhorn.
Aug. 14 marked her latest high-profile result: a six-hour, 47-minute, 33-second solo ascent-and-descent record from Zermatt via the Swiss Hörnli Ridge, as she trained for a speed record on the Italian route.