Mélanie grew up between Champlan and the Val d’Anniviers. As a child, she spent her summers at the family’s mountain hut in St-Jean, and whilst at university, she worked as a ski instructor in Grimentz. She forged strong ties with the village. It was there that she met the ski mountaineer David Salamin, founder of the Les KM de Chando race. At the time, she could never have imagined that, a few years later, she would take over the reins of the event.
In 2012, David realised a dream by launching Switzerland’s only double Vertical Kilometre race in Chandolin. The terrain’s topography, featuring a steep, long and demanding climb, lent itself perfectly to this challenge. And the date, a few weeks before the winter season, allowed ski mountaineers to test their skills against one another.
But, with just one month to go before the second edition, fate had other plans: David lost his life in the mountains. “He told me everything: what he wanted, why he was doing it… I was the one who knew his project best.” So it was only natural that Mélanie joined the organising committee to put together this second edition at short notice. She would later take over as chair, with one clear aim: to carry on what David had started. “Deep down, I’m doing all this for him and for this project that he wanted to be something big, just like everything else he set out to do,” she tells us.
The Chando KM is, above all, an adventure driven by an organising committee supported by around sixty volunteers and loyal partners. Most of them have been involved since the very first event. Whether family, friends or lovers of the valley, they all continue, in their own way, to keep this adventure alive. “Some even plan their holidays around the race,” she smiles.
Over the course of fifteen editions, this small race has made a name for itself. Nowadays, the world’s elite compete alongside amateurs, families and children in a range of events: the Vertical Kilometre, Double KM, Two-a-side Relay and Kid’s Vertical. This means everyone can take on their own challenge.
To celebrate this 15th anniversary, the team has devised an even more festive day, with a revamped children’s race for every age group from 2 to 14, activities for families and the creation of a semi-permanent course allowing everyone to test themselves on the legendary route throughout the summer.
And when asked what she envisages for the future, Mélanie talks of neither figures nor records. Now living in Vercorin with her family, every morning she gazes towards the summit of the Illhorn, the legendary finish line of the Les KM de Chando race, simply hoping that this event will continue to bring together the world’s finest athletes, pass on a passion for the mountains to the next generation, and keep the Val d’Anniviers alive for at least another 15 years.
