Sandford's job involves constant danger. He runs onto ice, leaps onto a steel sled less than half-a-metre square, travels at upwards of 130km/h, ideally uses his knees (sometimes it's the shoulders or toes in tricky circumstances) for steering and can get his helmet forced into the ice with up to 6Gs of force. At least it's a buzz.
"You can't afford to be scared," he says. "Sure, there's a natural anxiety when it comes to performance but it's a case of trying to be relaxed and controlling your adrenalin."
Sandford has been at the heart of the sport's recent development. His legal background makes him a useful athlete representative on the sport's governing body. He discusses contentious issues with the powers-that-be. The key one has been speed in the aftermath of the Vancouver Games where Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was killed on the sledding course after hitting a steel pole at 143km/h. Safety has become paramount at Sochi.
"Pre-accident, organisers wanted the longest, fastest, most difficult track in the world," Sandford says. "But they obviously had no desire for a repeat death so changed the track design to slow us down. I understand a third uphill section was added."
Sandford recently spent two weeks training at the new Olympic track and finished eighth there at the most recent World Cup in February.
"Sochi is nowhere near as fast or demanding as touted. The fastest speed I've done is 127-128km/h, which is 18-19km/h less than Vancouver [at the Whistler Sliding Centre]."
As part of his administrative role, Sandford has advocated more pre-Olympic practice runs. Since he raced at Torino in 2006, the number of training runs has increased from 20 to 40, a figure now enshrined in the sport's Olympic rules.
"That has to be combined with plenty of time learning the lines of the track and developing a steering plan. The more you know a track, the more you can adapt."
At 34, Sandford expects this will be his last Games. Constantly budgeting to live his dream can take its toll. He lives off money from High Performance Sport New Zealand through their annual allocation to winter sports and a performance enhancement grant. He claims his "credit card gets plenty of use" in a season which extends from October to February. Other innovative means help make ends meet.
"We have a co-operation agreement with the Italian team. I give them coaching help and they provide access to their video technology. I'm used to being on the road but once I've completed 12 years, I'm looking forward to returning to the beach holidays of my childhood."
