It's possible if you want to try. If you decide to go local, that's not a bad choice, either. You can invest only a day in the project. The cost, while still high, does not include airfare. If you don't like it, you drive home.
Local mountains teach a lot of beginners.
Because repeat business is crucial for their survival, they make it a point to do this right. They try to give new skiers a good value while still making the essential offerings to the profit gods. Whitetail offers virtually the same thing. From an instructor's perspective, I have seen far more people who are completely overdressed for the temperature and conditions than I have seen underdressed. Skiing is not a stationary activity.