After five World Cups and the world championships events completed, the best snowboard cross riders are in Veysonnaz, Switzerland for the final 2016/17 World Cup and Team SBX event with Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin coming into the race currently ranked fourth overall in the world on 2,790 points.

Joining Pullin in Veysonnaz is Cam Bolton and NSWIS skiers Adam Lambert, Matt Thomas and Adam Dickson.
Jarryd Hughes decided not to contest the final race and three-time Ladies World Cup winner Belle Brockhoff is recovering from injury.

Two-time world champion and recent World Championship bronze medal winner Alex Pullin is well within reach of the overall podium and has had a strong season, having been consistently in the top five during this season, collecting a gold (Feldberg) and bronze (Montafon) along the way.

Despite the course in Veysonnaz being described as becoming more ‘mellow’ over the years, Australian coach Ben Wordsworth says everyone is “looking forward to the final World Cup to finish the season strongly.”

“The course here has always suited riders like Alex Pullin as it has always been fast and technical,” he said.  

Men’s qualifying gets underway on Friday evening 24 March at 8.45pm with the finals on Saturday night from 11.30pm.
 

After three World Cup victories in 12 months, Belle Brockhoff’s best season of her career has ended abruptly because of a serious knee injury.

The Sochi Olympian crashed while testing the World Championships course in Sierra Nevada, Spain.

“I didn’t think much of it at the time, it felt like another crash.”

However, after tests and a quick realisation that she lacked the movement to turn her board, Brockhoff decided to withdraw from the 2017 World Championships.

An MRI scan later revealed, the worst result, she had torn her ACL apart.

Australia’s top female boardercross rider miscalculated a feature, smashing her into the snow.

“I didn’t have the speed for it when I was approaching it,” Brockhoff said.

“So I made a different move which slammed me onto the up ramp of a roller and spat me upside down off the back of it.”

She said everything else felt fine, but her knee was sore and she anticipated a decent sprain or at worst bone bruising.

 “I’ve had a lot of issues with my knee in the past and I believe it has been slowly tearing bit by bit,” said Brockhoff who has never had a season ending injury before.

"This is my first injury that has made me pull out from the season.

"All my other seasons have been consistently healthy and climbing up the ranks."

But the 24-year-old won’t let a torn ACL keep her from making her second Olympic appearance, and her positive attitude may be her ticket to success in 2018 in PyeongChang.

“Yeah look it sucks but it doesn’t,” she said.

“There’s a positive side coming out of the season with no World Champ title or as the tour leader.

“It means I have nothing coming into PyeongChang and I’ll be hunting for it.

“I’ll also be a lot stronger physically - with a new knee - and mentally,” said Brockhoff who is still adjusting to being home on Australian soil three weeks earlier than anticipated.

The Olympic Winter Institute Scholarship holder now faces a solid nine-month recovery period but is thankful the injury happened when it did.

“I’m excited for this process. I’m not worried or nervous.

“I believe this knee injury is going to put me in a better path than before and I am already looking forward to next season to kick off.”

Helping her through the up and downs of being an elite athlete is fellow snowboard cross rider and Sochi Olympian Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin.

“We get closer each year. We have a good friendship going on in the team and it just makes snowboard that much more fun,” said Brockhoff who often turns to the two-time World Championships title holder for tips and advice.

“It’s also really cool that we have been able to share some pretty sweet success in the last few years together too.”

Currently sitting in the number 2 spot in the FIS world rankings, Brockhoff understands this latest injury will cost her the number one ranking, but is determined to put that out of her mind.

“It’s a bit emotionally confusing if I think too much about the injury.

“I’ll probably drop down to rank 3 like last year but if I did do the last World Cup and did well then I probably would have gotten back up to the number 1 spot.”

Despite this bump on the road to PyeongChang 2018, Brockhoff knows she sits amongst the world’s best snowboard cross athletes.

“That gives me confidence in knowing I can be the best. It was just a mix of bad and good timing for the knee injury.”

Ashleigh Knight – AOC

The Australian team of Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin and Adam Lambert have finished ninth in the Snowboard Cross team’s event at the 2017 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships.  
 
Both riders were on a high after qualifying for Sunday’s big final where Pullin won bronze and Lambert finished sixth. There was double reason for celebration with Australia the only nation to have two riders in the mix in the medal deciding race. 
 
In order to advance in Monday’s team event, the Aussies needed to finish first or second in a heat against Spain and one of Austria's two teams in the field. 
 
19-year-old Adam Lambert was first out of the gate and he got the Aussies off to a good start, keeping pace with the Austrian and Spanish riders but crossing the line in third.    
 
Pullin was out next and with the course offering minimal opportunities for passing, the Aussies finished third by a small margin and did not progress to the semi-finals.
 
“We come away clean, happy and buzzing off that result yesterday and really looking forward to the last World Cup,” Pullin said.
 
“The team race has a lot to do with how you can balance the team’s best and me and Adam have a good team,” he said.
 
With conditions deteriorating the job was never going to be easy. 
 
“We got up here and the conditions were tough, they delayed it because of the visibility being so bad, it’s a lot slower and the wind was pretty rough,” Pullin said.  
 
With one World Cup still to race, Pullin is focused on finishing his season on a high but he wanted to give his young team-mate another opportunity to race.    
 
“It (the World Cup) was my immediate focus after yesterday’s result concluded. My eyes are set on that,” he said.
 
“I had a really good day of racing yesterday and it was pretty taxing but I also think that it was a really good opportunity for Adam to race another heat, he’s in good form.”
 
The ultimate Snowboard Cross World Cup event for the 2016/17 season will be held in Veysonnaz (SUI).  
 
 

Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin won Australia’s fifth medal of the 2017 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships, claiming bronze in the final of the men’s Snowboard Cross. 
 
The two-time world champion (2011 & 2013) used tactics to advance to the big final, admitting the track did not play to his strengths.
 
“I knew the track here was going to be a little challenging racing wise, it was a pretty narrow race line and six-man heats was always going to prove to have some action,” Pullin said. 
 
“I put some tactics in play early-on just to move through the rounds and that seemed to work well so I stuck to that,” he said.
 
The six-man final saw Pullin go head-to-head with two of his main rivals and the eventual gold and silver medallists, France’s Pierre Vaultier and Spain’s Lucas Eguibar. 
 
“It was the final that I wanted,” Pullin said. 
 
“Both of those riders are goofy stance and they were really quick in turn two so I knew that was going to be the challenge for me. I had really good speed on the rest of the course but passing opportunities weren’t as great lower down, so I found myself gaining and then losing the opportunity to turn that into a pass.
 
“But I don’t have any regrets and that’s the one thing in this sport I’m happy to walk away with. “
 
Reflecting on his season and looking ahead to the Olympic year, Pullin admits to being in a good place both physically and mentally.
 
“Feeling positive about the way my body is (and) about how my mentality is with my racing. It’s pretty intimidating in races like today, six man heats and a fair few crashes going on and I’m still able to come here and fully commit and not hold back.”  
 
“I’m working to expand my abilities in all conditions so when you do rock up to any course you can come away with a top three and that’s where I’m very happy about today,” he said. 
 
Australia’s 19 year old super rookie of the season Adam Lambert,  was in only his fourth top level event yet finished sixth overall after he also advanced to the big final. Lambert was superb in each of his first three rounds, racing with confidence to finish first each time.
 
There was disappointment for Sochi Olympians Cam Bolton and Jarryd Hughes who did not progress from the round of 48 after suffering falls early in their heat.
 
Australia’s medal haul at the 2017 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships includes two gold (Britt Cox – Moguls; Scotty James – Halfpipe) a silver (Danielle Scott – Aerials) and a bronze (David Morris – Aerials). It equals Australia’s best ever Ski and Snowboard World Championship performance.
 
The second week of competition includes ski-cross, ski-slopestyle and snowboard big air events. 

Australia's Alex 'Chumpy' Pullin, Jarryd Hughes, Cam Bolton and Adam Lambert have advanced to the round of 48 in the men's Snowboard Cross at the 2017 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships.
 
Leading Aussie qualifier and two-time World Champion, Alex 'Chumpy' Pullin, put down a competitive run in the first round, crossing the line in a time of 1.10.59 to qualify in fourth position.
 
Jarryd Hughes also locked down a top 10 result, finishing in eighth with a first run time of 1.10.77.
 
“Happy with my time,” Hughes said. “I made a mistake in the middle which cost me big but I’ll take top ten any day,” he said.
 
Cam Bolton qualified on his second run after failing to finish the first. Bolton's 1.11.11 put him in 25th position.
 
“I came unstuck in the first run and the course is slowing down so it’s going to be a little tricky attacking the guys who didn’t make the top 24 in the first run,” Bolton said.
 
The Sochi Olympian’s plan for race day is to stay out of trouble.
 
“It's going to be about getting the start right - trying to get ahead of everyone and not making any mistakes,” he said.
 
Team rookie Adam Lambert stopped the clock at 1.11.09 to qualify in 14th position. Lambert is eager to add another good result to his most recent World Cup performance where he finished sixth.
 
“I’ve got some form coming in and I’d love to get a podium but we’ll see how we go,” Lambert said.
 
The 19-year-old was pleased with his performance in qualifying.
 
“I kept it clean, came through the middle section pretty fast and then into the bottom section I kept as much clean as I could," he said.  
 
Auatralia's Belle Brockoff had to withdraw from the women's event prior to the start of competition due to a knee injury. Belle is expected to be up and going again soon.
 
The 2017 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championship men's Snowboard Cross finals will be held Sunday. Final events will be lived streamed at: https://www.skiandsnowboard.org.au/2017-snowboard--freestyle-world-champs/

Australia’s Snowboard Cross athletes Belle Brockhoff, Alex Pullin, Jarryd Hughes, Cam Bolton and Adam Lambert are looking forward to sunny conditions in Sierra Nevada, Spain when qualifying begins on Friday night (AEDT) for the 2017 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships.
 
Leading the strong Australian team are Belle Brockhoff, who is currently second in the overall FIS World Cup standings, and 2011 and 2013 World Champion Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin who is ranked fourth on the world leaderboard.
 
Pullin has two World Cup podium results this season, including a win at Feldberg (GER) and third at Montafon (AUT).  
 
The two-time Olympian most recently won the small final at the La Molina (ESP) World Cup after leading at the end of qualification.
 
“Being at this point in the season in tip-top condition with the body, as well as having some really good results under the belt is a good bit of momentum coming in,” Pullin said.
 
The 29-year-old said Sierra Nevada’s mild conditions would allow for the best kind of racing.
 
“We’ve seen quite a few tough conditions this year which is all part of it, but I’m hoping we might get a bit lucky with some weather. It’s obviously very warm here (so) the track is going to be soft, but visibility and hopefully speed-wise it should stay pretty consistent.”
 
“I try to adapt to everything as best I can and over my career I’ve definitely had reasonably solid results in most conditions,” he said.
 
Joining Pullin in the men’s event are Sochi Olympians Jarryd Hughes and Cam Bolton as well as 19-year-old Adam Lambert who has enjoyed two top seven placings in his debut World Cup season.
 
21-year-old Hughes described this season as his best yet and he is looking for another strong result. 
 
“In terms of overall results, I’ve been performing top eight at every event progressing into these World Championships,” Hughes said.
 
“I think I need to keep doing what I’m doing, working on having fun, really progressing through the rounds, sticking to the basics and following through,” he said.  
 
Dual World Cup winner this season Belle Brockhoff will be Australia’s sole entrant in the women’s event and the 24-year-old is ready to ‘throw down’ after a disappointing outing at La Molina, which saw her slip from first to second in the World Cup rankings with one event remaining in the World Cup after the Championships in Spain.
 
“For me personally it’s almost nice having a bad result leading into this event because it reminds you that you really have to work,” Brockoff said. 
 
She said the course and conditions would suit her riding technique.
 
“Something I love doing is big courses, the features are more difficult and they’re a lot faster.
 
“I know if I ride my best I’ll do well. I’m feeling confident especially seeing how big it is,” she said.  
 
Qualifications for the Snowboard Cross World Championships begin on Friday at 8.20pm (AEDT) with finals to follow on Sunday. The Aussie men will also participate in the team’s event on Monday. 
 
You can watch the finals live on Eurosport or on live stream from Ski & Snowboard Australia https://www.skiandsnowboard.org.au/2017-snowboard--freestyle-world-champs/
 

La Molina in Spain is the second last stop on the Snowboard Cross World Cup circuit this season and will again feature Australia’s Belle Brockhoff who is the overall leader on 3,700 points ahead of Eva Samkova from the Czech Republic.

Both women have earned two wins and one second rank this season, respectively, and it's likely that the two dominating racers will play a major role on the 860 metres long course purpose-built on the Alabaus slope.

Alex “Chumpy” Pullin leads the Australian men in the world rankings at fourth, having taken the gold at the last World Cup in Feldberg, Germany. Pullin trails the leader Alessandro Haemmerle by 760 points.

Jarryd Hughes, who made it a one-two for Australia in Feldberg in mid Febraury by winning silver, is sitting in overall sixth position. Cam Bolton is currently in 20th and the up-and-coming Adam Lambert is in 32nd.

With only two more events of the World Cup season to come – the finals will be staged in Veysonnaz (SUI) the weekend after the world championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain.  

The qualifiers for the penultimate Snowboard Cross World Cup event are scheduled for Saturday, March 4 at 7.30pm (AEDT) with the heat of four finals live on Eurosport on Sunday, March 5 at 9.30pm (AEDT).