Article: Haute Route Suffer Fest: When thousands of mega-lunged ski-mountaineers descend upon Zermatt for the world's toughest single-day ski race, pain is mandatory--and spandex is everywhere.(Features)

Byline: Evelyn Spence

ALLEZ LES BICHETTES!

It's 2:07 on a Saturday morning in the centter of Zermatt, Switzerland, and hundreds of people are standing shoulder to shoulder on makeshift grandstands--or leaning against makeshift barriers--and frantically waving makeshift props: Swiss flags, hometown pennants, bedsheets spray-painted with words of encouragement. One fan holds a banner that simply proclaims, "Go bitches!"

The air smells like stale beer. A stumbling spectator pulls his pie-eyed friend out of a puddle of slush. Over the loudspeakers, military marching songs alternate with a cheesy remix of "Hey Jude."

As the 2:30 start time ...

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