It was a fine line between pleasure and pain for Australian snowboarders as Sochi gold medal hope Alex "Chumpy" Pullin crashed heavily in a World Cup meet only for unheralded teammate Jarryd Hughes to snatch a shock win.
Young gun Hughes rode his luck at Lake Louise, taking advantage of spills in the first three heats - but there was no denying him in the final, the 18-year-old constructing a superb tactical race to secure a breakthrough victory.
Pullin and Hughes had faced off in a round-one heat but shortly after taking the lead the two-time world champion was clipped from behind by long-time rival Pierre Vaultier.
Pullin bruised his ribs in the clash but the Australian team said there were no breaks and he is likely to resume competition early in the new year.
Vaultier looked far the worse for wear, the Frenchman taken on a stretcher from the course.
After a semi-final appearance in the first World Cup, Hughes now also leads the overall standings in snowboard cross.
His result capped a strong weekend for Australians competing on the World Cup circuit.
In China, aerial skier Lydia Lassila equalled her best World Cup performance since 2010 when she was second at an event staged at Beijing's summer Olympics arena, the Bird's Nest Stadium.
Lassila qualified first for the decider but was pipped in the one-jump super final by Xin Zhang with Chinese compatriot Xu Mengtao in third.
"It was a long day with a lot of jumps," Lassila said.
"That's what the Olympics are going to be and I'm really happy I made it through all of the rounds, made the distance, which was a concern for me. But I handled it really well."
Australians Danielle Scott and Laura Peel were sixth and seventh respectively.
In Colorado, Russ Henshaw was third in the slopestyle World Cup event at Copper Mountain, continuing his consistent start to the season.
Henshaw was a podium finisher at the New Zealand World Cup fixture in August and the Dew Tour pro event last week.
Teammate and Sochi medal hope Anna Segal struggled, though, admitting to some bumps and bruises after crashing on both her qualifying runs.
In a night event at Copper Mountain, 19 year-old Scotty James underlined his enormous improvement, finishing sixth.
James, who was just 15 when he competed at the 2010 Games in Vancouver, has come on in leaps and bounds over the last year and will likely go to Sochi as Australia's best men's halfpipe rider.
He also qualified first from his heat in the slopestyle event, the final to be held on Monday (AEDT).
Meanwhile, the ski cross team continues to struggle with Katya Crema the only Australian amongst the five-strong contingent competing to make it to head-to-head racing at the World Cup event in Italy.
