SNOWBOARD X: In a sport where chaos seems destined to rule, Australian Alex "Chumpy" Pullin is king. 

With its jumps and banked turns fashioned around a race-focus, snowboard cross has been variously compared to motocross and BMX.

But this sport has more variables still: the vagaries of weather, different snow conditions and, depending on the stance of your nearest opponent, the prospect of quite literally facing your fellow rider as you hurtle down a hill at speeds close to 90km/hr.

"I totally get that from the outside it could just look like dudes going at it on snowboards," Pullin says.

"But it's like a tennis player with a base technique who hits shot after shot ... who then pulls out the moneymaker.

"It's about making decisions at the right time."

Amongst the crashes and carnage, that's something Pullin has done consistently.

A master tactician, the 26-year-old seems to have all the time in the world in a race which can last less than 90 seconds.

He'll often hang back early in the race, avoiding risky manoeuvres in the mad scramble out of the starting gate.

Then it is like a switch goes on - his in depth study of the competition, course and conditions rapidly used to calculate how he'll get through as one of the top three riders in each race.

In the final it's much the same - except he goes for the win.

And over the last four years he's had plenty of them.

During that time Pullin has won two overall World Cup titles, meaning he's the most consistent rider week to week on the international circuit.

But he's also the two-time defending world champion, suggesting he's more than capable of putting on his race face for major individual events.

It leaves the 2014 Winter Olympics gold medal as the only significant prize he is yet to win.

Four years ago at his first Games in Vancouver, Pullin surprised many by being the fastest racer in qualifying but just as expectations began to mount they ebbed away again, the Victorian crashing out in his first head-to-head race.

He's determined that won't happen in Sochi.

"A lot of the time it (crashing out) can be so frustrating in the moment but I look at it as a learning process," he says.

"I was out leading the field and fell down. That happens. I put that down to lack of experience ... but looking back now it was a long time ago and I can't imagine that guy getting in the starting gate."