SNOWBOARD X: Australia’s Snowboard Cross team will contest the opening round of the 2013/14 World Cup season in Montafon, Austria, this weekend, but will be without team leader Alex “Chumpy” Pullin.

Pullin has experienced some minor back stiffness this week.

Australian snowboard head coach Ben Wordsworth decided his athlete was better to sit out the opening round and concentrate his efforts for the tour’s second round in Lake Louise, Canada, on December 21.

Australians in action at the double-header will be Torah Bright, Belle Brockhoff, Cameron Bolton, Jarryd Hughes and Daniel Morrissy.

Brockhoff will go into the weekend with happy memories from this event 12 months ago when the rider secured her maiden World Cup podium and then went on to record impressive results throughout the rest of the season, enabling her to finish the year ranked in the top 10.

Bright, the current snowboard halfpipe Olympic champion, is attempting to compete in three events in Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, in February and needs valuable World Cup points from this weekend to set her on her journey to qualify for snowboard cross in Sochi.

Bolton, Hughes and Morrissy have shown in training throughout the last few weeks that their form is strong enough to pick up enough World Cup points between now and the qualification cut-off date of January 20 to be considered for Australian selection in Sochi.

Australia’s five snowboard cross athletes line up for the qualification session Friday night Australian time, before the top 24 women and 48 men advance to the knock out rounds the following day.

With the Sochi Olympic Winter Games just 62 days away, more than 100 athletes have entered the individual event and the teams event 24 hours later.