SNOWBOARD CROSS: It’s the BMX of snowboarding - with spectacular jumps, close quarters racing and plenty of thrills and spills.

All eyes will be on the snowboard cross competition at next year’s Winter Olympics in Sochi, and if Aussie Belle Brockhoff has anything to say about it – they’ll be watching her win a medal.

Brockhoff comes from a superior snow sports pedigree. Her uncle, Peter Brockhoff, competed at two Winter Olympics (1960 Squaw Valley, 1964 Innsbruck) in alpine skiing; her grandfather Harold Brockhoff was one of the original pioneers of Mt Buller and her great aunt, Joyce Brockhoff has a run at Hotham named in her honour in recognition of her work promoting women in snow sports.

So for the 20-year-old snowboarder, qualifying for Sochi is one more chapter in an already rich history.

After competing on the World Cup circuit in the alpine snowboarding event of parallel giant slalom, Brockhoff switched to boardercross.

“It’s definitely the adrenaline from going top speed, jumping and pushing the limits that makes boarder cross so appealing,” Brockhoff said.

In a sport where head to head races are over in the blink of an eye - the smallest of mistakes or just plain back luck can lead to disaster, with collisions a common occurrence.

“I try to focus only on my riding and what I need to do,” Brockhoff said. “If I get taken out by another racer, well then that’s just bad luck.”

Coming off a stellar 2013 World Cup Season, where she finished ninth overall and claimed Australia’s first women’s World Cup snowboard cross medal in Montafon, Austria; the Victorian rider now has her sights firmly set on qualifying for her first Olympic Games in Sochi 2014.

“The race course is different at every race, so it’s a new challenge at each event,” Brockhoff said.

If she qualifies for the 2014 Games, it will not be her first visit to the Russian Black Sea Resort, having placed sixth at the World Cup Olympic test event in February this year.

Fast forward to an impressive result in Australia at Mount Hotham in October – and Brockhoff is definitely in form for her Olympic campaign.

She will now compete in three World Cup events which are essential to her Olympic qualification.

“It’s all very exciting and nerve racking at the same time. I'm looking forward to competing against the very best in the world,” she said.