Alex (Chumpy) Pullin has ridden to an impressive fourth place at the La Molina World Cup, the second time he has finished one place short of the podium this season.

After finishing in eighth place in the qualifying time trial, Pullin came out strongly in the head-to-head-finals, winning every encounter through to the four-man final.

“Chumpy came up against World Cup leader Markus Schairer, Nick Baumgartner from the USA and Francois Boivin from Canada in the final,” said OWI Head Snowboard Coach Ben Wordsworth.

“Unfortunately he had a bad gate draw and missed his start for the final heat, which put him in the back coming into the first turn.”

“He fought hard the whole race but, given the short course, it was hard to make a passing move on the leading pack.”

“But he rode extremely well at this event and showed once again that he is in the mix with the best in the world.”

The La Molina event was fellow AIS Scholarship holder Damon Hayler’s first race back after three weeks off with a minor shoulder injury he received in Cypress Mountain and he finished in 28th place.

“Damon definitely was cautious and played it safe today which was the plan so he can be 100% for next week’s race in Italy,” Wordsworth said.

Ski and Snowboard Australia rider Charles Ferry placed 55th.

Pullin and Hayler are now 12th and 13th respectively on the World Cup standings.

In the women’s event SSA’s Stephanie Hickey produced the second best result of her career, finishing 15th.

Hickey had started the season with a 14th in Chapelco, but that was in a smaller field.