Drones to be used in search for missing Canadian skyrunner Kalie McCrystal

Drones will be used in the Italian alpine search for missing Canadian skyrunner Kalie McCrystal after helicopter flights over the weekend found no trace of her. Ms. McCrystal, 38, a lawyer from Squamish, B.C., has not been seen since the afternoon of Sept. 1, when she was spotted by Polish climbers high on the Italian side of the Matterhorn mountain, which straddles the Swiss border. She was alone and was training to set a new record time for ascending and descending the 4,478-metre mountain, one of the highest peaks in the Alps. In an interview Monday, Valerio Segor, director of civil protection for the Aosta Valley region in Italy's northwest, near the French-Swiss border, said that drones have proven to be capable search devices in the past. 'You can get much closer to the mountain face with drones than with helicopters,' he said. 'Drones can see more details and software can be used to analyze the images, so that things that are not rock, like a jacket or other gear, can be spotted and identified.' He said it was unlikely that the drones would fly on Tuesday, because of the forecast for high winds and cloud cover, but could be deployed on Wednesday. Canadian skyrunner still missing on Italian side of Matterhorn Mr. Segor said a mountain rescue team of Italy's quasi-military Guardia di Finanza, which operates under the economy ministry, learned that the last signal from the electronic SIM on Ms. McCrystal's phone came on Sept. 1. Two Polish climbers saw Ms. McCrystal ascending and descending from Pic Tyndall, a 'sub-summit' about 200 metres below the Matterhorn's peak on the Italian side of the mountain, last Tuesday afternoon. The two women shot a video, which the rescue teams have seen, of Ms. McCrystal ascending the mountain. 'They said she was going up the mountain very fast,' Mr. Segor said. The initial searches concentrated on that area of the Matterhorn. He said the Guardia di Finanza found her hotel room in the alpine village of Cervinia, also known as Breuil-Cervinia, at the foot of the Matterhorn. Her luggage, including clothing, was in the room. The most recent helicopter search flight was on Sunday. Ms. McCrystal's parents were on the flight. Italian search and rescue teams have not released their names. Mountaineer missing while climbing near Switzerland-Italy border, Athletics Canada says The Matterhorn is considered a treacherous mountain for even well-trained hikers and climbers, including skyrunners. Skyrunning is a relatively new sport that requires athletes to run up high-elevation mountain trails and slopes with inclines as much as 30 per cent. Sometimes they rely on chains fastened to the rock faces to assist their climbs. Various Matterhorn records say that 500 to 600 climbers have lost their lives on the mountain since the first recorded ascent in 1864. A male Finnish climber went missing on the Matterhorn in late July. His body has yet to be located. Parts of the upper Matterhorn are particularly dangerous. 'If you fall, you could fall several hundred metres,' Mr. Segor said. Ms. McCrystal is a seasoned, trophy-winning skyrunner who has trained and competed in mountain races in South America and in Europe. Athletics Canada said in a statement last week that 'Kalie is an experienced skyrunner and mountaineer, with many years of experience on technical and high-altitude mountain environments. She has extensive knowledge and experience of alpine terrain and previously climbed the Matterhorn.' As a lawyer, Ms. McCrystal specializes in international arbitration. She is an instructor in the school of legal studies at Capilano University, which has a campus in Squamish, where she lives. She is a graduate in law from the University of British Columbia.