Australia's snowboarding prospects continue to grow brighter as a country more known for it's love of the sun and surf takes it to the world's elite winter sport countries.  

Many of Australia's top snowboarders are currently getting a feel for 2014 host city Sochi in a series of test events a year out from the biggest competition in winter sports, with the team aiming to build towards securing multiple Olympic gold medals when the Sochi Games roll around next February. 

The Aussie team continue to build towards securing multiple Olympic gold medals in 2014 with the roll call of achievements for Australian snowboarders since 2010 growing more impressive as the Sochi Games draw closer. 

It includes a gold medal for Torah Bright at the 2010 Vancouver Games in halfpipe, world championship victories for Nate Johnstone and Holly Crawford in 2011 in the same discipline and Alex Pullin's dual world titles in snowboard cross in 2011 and 2013.

There's also been a World Cup title (Pullin 2011) and a slew of individual medals including Bright's world championship third place in the new Games discipline of slopestyle.

The question is how did a country with small mountains, declining winters and a penchant for the beach find itself with one of the best snowboard teams in the world?

Its genesis stems from a punt on taking a group of snowboarders to ride and train in California back in 2002.

At that stage the Australian wintersport scene was still largely geared towards a women's aerials program as the likes of Jacqui Cooper, Alisa Camplin and Lydia Lassila ruled the skies.

But Olympic Winter Institute boss Geoff Lipshut saw potential, particularly in a relatively weak women's halfpipe competition and thought with proper training and facilities that gifted riders could turn into champions.

Current head coach Ben Wordsworth and Crawford remain from that original group and after a few false starts and sideways moves the program is now one of the most successful amongst snowboarding countries.

"I think the young snowboarders coming up see a pathway and realise there are opportunities," said Lipshut.

"Nathan (Nate) is the second generation so he's picked it up. Then you have someone like Chumpy (Pullin) with a huge amount of energy, desire and motivation. He raises the level of the snowboard program. Then you have Cam (Bolton) and others who are coming up and are hungry for success.

"We've also had, sitting outside the program but a real iconic figure, Torah.

"All the snowboarders think if Torah can do it, if Chumpy can do it, if Nathan can do it then you start to believe."

Tempering the halfpipe performances is the divide between World Cup and pro tour events - results can artificially be inflated because the best riders often skip the FIS (Federation Internationale de Ski) tour in favour of invitational series such as the X Games.

But even that has been broached in the last few years.

Crawford's second at the Sochi test event came in a field with two Olympic gold medallists while Johnstone took out a World Cup event in Colorado last month that contained almost everyone of note save for the sport's American poster boy Shaun White and Russian hope Iouri Podladtchikov.

"The field was definitely a lot stronger at the Copper World Cup and I felt everyone riding-wise had their A-game on. All the runs were top notch; as good as you can get," Johnstone said.

"For me personally to win that event means a lot more (than the 2011 world championship)."

The addition of slopestyle to the 2014 Olympic program only helps the Australian contingent; the jumps and tricks of the terrain park not a huge leap from what's performed in the halfpipe.

It's a natural fit for the uber-talented Bright but her quest to add the more race-bred snowboard cross to her program is sure to raise eyebrows amongst her competitors.

Yet Pullin, the standout snowboard cross rider in the world, says the broad background of most Australian riders means you couldn't rule out even more success for his teammate.

"The thing about Torah and most of us is that we started snowboarding in a lot of different disciplines in the beginning and that's what you did in Australia. You just did everything.

"She's already had experience with these things in Australia where you rock up and do GS, slalom racing, boarder cross, big air and the halfpipe.

"So her general feeling is pretty good, she knows competition extremely well ... because she has that experience to call on I don't think she'll have too much of a problem."

AAP