When talking about snowboarding many riders say „it’s a way of life“. This phrase seems to fit to every snowboarder, but even more to riders from Australia who are considered to be laid back, easy going and natural born surfers.

Alex Pulllin combines all those “down under” attitudes with a competitive character summing up in a strong World Cup rider who stormed into the scene over the past two years thus being a strong force to watch on the battle field called snowboard cross course.

But although “Chumpy” has this hunger to win, which is mandatory to make it on top of the world (“I’m focused on being the best I can be.”), sheer will does not make a complete athlete. The Eden Cove resident is not only a technical rider and good at starts but also fearless when it comes down to head-to-head situations. In addition, he is able to play with the terrain as he also tries to ride as much backcountry and powder days he can score during the season.

But powder days are not really what come to your mind when thinking of Australia, a country more known for their surfing than snowboarding history. According to this, it had to be a family connection which brought the guitar player of his own band consisting of him, his sister and a friend, falling in love with winter sport.  “My parents own a ski and board shop. So I was skiing from a young age and dad hooked me up with a board when I was around nine years old. I quickly became an addict.”

Ever since, his first snowboard experience and his family pioneered his path. “My parents have always given me so much support. Coming from Australia, it’s a big deal to chase the snow all year round. When I was younger, they always helped me to organize trips up the mountain with older crew, gave me days off school to ride and compete in contests. My dad Chris still tunes my board in contests.”

Meanwhile Alex, who is also into mountain biking and surfing, has found another back up while being on tour for so many months. Being part of a national team consisting of only one racer, the Aussie squad has joined forces with the Bulgarian team which also supports only one rider, Alexandra Jekova, the girl Alex dates for a while now.

That this coalition was the right move is easily to be proven by looking on his latest results. After constantly placing better season after season, the 1987-born brought home several top-10 results, finally winning his first World Cup in his fourth big final appearance (Valmalenco, 2010). While some more top-3 finishes followed including two wins his career's highlight so far was the first ever Gold medal for an Australian rider at the 2011 World Championships (SBX).

His successful 2011 season then wrapped up with a heartbeat final for the World Cup globe. In the end, Chumpy ended up first, only 60 points ahead of his rival Pierre Vaultier.

And, odds on, it’s pretty likely that there is more to com. With so many contest years still to come while being one of the young guns having gained a lot of experience already, it’s pretty likely that the fastest qualifier of the 2010 Olympics will play a big role in up-coming major events possibly bringing home a medal in the near future.