Alex Pullin, known almost always as Chumpy, was Australia’s first-ever snowboard world champion, a three-time Olympian and, at his peak, one of the very best snowboard cross athletes in the world.
Through a 13-year professional career, Pullin rose to the top of his sport and became one of Australia’s most recognisable winter athletes, culminating in his selection as the country’s flag bearer at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
He died on Wednesday, aged 32, in a spearfishing accident off Palm Beach on the Gold Coast.
Surrounded by snow from birth, Pullin was born in Mansfield, Victoria, at the foot of Mt Buller. He took to snowboarding young, sparking a love affair that would last the length of his life.
Not long after discovering snowboarding, a young Chumpy discovered snowboard cross, which he said he felt was “the most pure form of competition”.
“I was so attracted to competing from a young age,” Pullin said on his website.
“My dad and I used to race to everything. The nearest tree or racing home on our bikes. It became second nature to test myself that way.
“When I started snowboarding, there were many different disciplines I competed in, but Boardercross alw