Canadian athlete Kalie McCrystal missing in the Alps

Canadian athlete Kalie McCrystal has gone missing during preparations for a record attempt in the Alps.

McCrystal, from Squamish in British Columbia, was on a “reconnaissance/training session” in the run-up to her attempt at ascending and descending the 14,692 ft (4,478m) Matterhorn on the Swiss-Italian border.

According to the Skyrunner World Series, the 38-year-old was last seen on Tuesday after she had reached the Matterhorn’s summit and was descending the Italian side of the mountain. The last sighting of the athlete was near a shelter at an altitude of around 12,500 ft.

“There has been no further contact with her, and no one has seen or heard from her since,” the Skyrunner World Series said in the press release.

Skyrunning involves running and scrambling at altitudes higher than 6,600ft. McCrystal was hoping to ascend and descend the Matterhorn in less than five hours during her record attempt.

A helicopter search for McCrystal was called off on Friday after rescuers could find no trace of the athlete.

McCrystal has climbed the Matterhorn before and, according to the Skyrunner World Series, she had “many years of experience in high-altitude and technical mountain terrain”.

A friend of McCrystal said he did not believe the athlete had taken unnecessary risks before she went missing.

“I know that this objective was well within her capabilities,” Duncan O’Regan, McCrystal’s friend and fellow mountain runner, told CBC. “She’s done much more difficult things, and this is not something that is beyond her capabilities. She’s comfortable in this terrain.”

McCrystal has set several skyrunning records in Canada and Europe and is a lawyer and staff member at Capilano University in North Vancouver.

“Our thoughts are with Kalie’s family, friends and colleagues, and with everyone involved in the search efforts during this incredibly difficult time,” said Jason Dewling, the university’s president and vice-chancellor.