The growing recognition of snowboarding around the world is evidenced by its establishment as a sports discipline in 1995. Snowboarding competitions have been taking place for approximately 20 years, and include events such as the halfpipe, boardercross, slopestyle and parallel giant slalom. As such, snowboarding has been included in events in Winter Olympics and Winter X-games. It even has a US Open tournament of its own. The growth of snowboarding as a sport is undeniable as more and more people get hooked on it.

Now that you are among the countless ones who want to try out the fun and excitement that only snowboarding can give, it is high time that you learn the basics of making your very first downhill ride on a snowboard. So how do you begin?

First, you need to procure the necessary snowboarding equipment. If you already have the necessary equipment, you can start learning the basics of riding your snowboard. Here are a few important things to remember as you start to find your destiny in snowboarding.

Keep in mind that snowboarding is similar to snow skiing. The body movements that enable you to control and stabilize your snowboard are the same as the movements in skiing. Therefore, if you are already a skilled skier, there will be fewer problems for you ahead. A skier will have easier time than a skateboard thrasher to learn snowboarding.

Always be in a relaxed position. Like any sport, snowboarding requires a calm and hang-loose mindset. Most accidents and injuries in snowboarding happen when one is in tensed position. As you mount your snowboard, keep your knees bent; a stiff stance will only make you absorb impacts between your snowboard and snow.

Try steering the snowboard over the small area you are in. Practice making turns, learn the finer points of toe-side turns, which means turning by lifting your heels up while pressing your toes to the snowboard; or heel-side turns, which make use of your heels for your turning. Once you have mastered the basics of balancing and steering your snowboard, you can move to a bigger patch of snow, but do not try a long and steep slope just yet.

Now that you have actually moved on your snowboard, you have to learn how to stop your snowboard. Stopping a snowboard basically requires making more turns until you find your self going for an uphill position. An uphill direction will certainly slow your snowboard down until you are in a complete stop.

After learning all the basic riding movements, you are ready for the next level. This is where Matt Belair's Snowboard Academy comes in!

Matt Belair is a certified Level 2 snowboard instructor who set up an online snowboard camp. The Snowboard Academy provides an ebook manual and three audio's in which you will learn an integrated system of snowboarding that includes: Mental Training, Physical Training and Focused Training. By integrating these 3 key parts in his training program, Matt Belair is able to teach you how to ride the snowboard park, how to make, the snowboard backflips, freestyle from spinning 720's over 55ft table tops to slaying city hand rails with ease and other snowboard tips and tricks.