I'm in AZ... I hardly know what snow is...

Okay that is not 100% true, I have been in snow a fair bit, I have snowboarded a bit and skied a couple times. Frankly I hate resorts, I dislike paying to go to them and dislike the idea of them. Are they my only option to learning to be a better skier? Can I just take trips into the backcountry and slowly learn? I am not looking to be killian Jornet or that crazy French guy who is his mentor. I just want to be able to move decently in the mountains with snow down.

Thanks for any thoughts or tips!

You'll learn very, *very* slowly. With a lot of effort, you can get in 5000-7000 feet of descent in a day while ski touring. At a resort, you can get in 5-6 times that. If you want to learn to ski, it will go much more quickly to buy a season pass and go as many times as possible. After doing that for one or two seasons, you can go back to the backcountry with much more skill and confidence.

Well said seano.