If you to give the sport a seriois try, I strongly recommend starting with a half-day lesson, and then go practice for the rest of the day on your own. Then, if you're not too bruised, try a second half-day lesson. Once you figure out how to avoid the body slam, progress is quick. If you make it to the third day, you should be able to handle any blue run on the mountain, and if you make it to the fifth day, you'll want to sell your skis. If you are coming at the sport from skateboarding or surfing, you won't want to mess around with skis at all.
C lick on the image below for a bigger pic.
This is me on a sunny day at Copper last year. I have been doing this since the early eighties and started on a Burton split-tail in Sorel boots. These days, I mostly like riding bumps, steeps and powder and avoid the parks, pipes, and hand rails. Stylus 156cm goofy. I prefer a shorter board because it is quicker in the bumps and doesn't get caught in the troughs as easily.