La Zone.A legendary European backcountry snowboarding area.

In the early 2000′s, snowboard filmer David ‘Vlad’ Vladyka and a handful of riders discovered an off-the-radar area on the French-Swiss border that held massive potential for shooting freestyle snowboarding. The mountain pass featured rolling terrain punctuated by steep roll overs that are perfect for building jumps. The area was Le Col de Cou, and though it had a name, the riders called it ‘La Zone’, a purposefully vague nickname that would help them keep the area a secret. Over the next decade, La Zone would become one of the most productive and standard setting locations for filming freestyle snowboarding in all of Europe. Shots from La Zone were featured in several Absinthe films, and many others. Now 20 years later, Jones team rider Mat Schaer and Vlad still return to La Zone to film from time to time, but the pristine slopes they enjoyed in the past are much harder to find as Le Col de Cou has become a popular ski touring destination. Featuring new and historic footage from La Zone, this new short film directed by Julien Rosens, and produced by Absinthe Films, highlights the history, beauty and inevitable evolution of this legendary shred spot.

A celebration of the rich snowboard history of the Le Col de Cou.

LA ZONE
A movie directed by Julien Roserens
Produced by Absinthe Films
Supported by Jonessnowboards, Region Dents du Midi, Doodah store
Edited by Jules Guarneri
Soundmix by Stephane Chapelle
Graphics by René Zumstein
Photo by Michael Cordey