[novice question] Backcountry-Focused First-Time Skiing?

Normally I’d post this on a noob questions sticky or something but I don’t see one here. No need to upvote, I’d just appreciate any and all advice.

**TL;DR**: Is it feasible to start as a first-time skier and learn to ski in non-groomed terrain (mellow backcountry / snow-covered hiking trails) with the aim of eventually skiing in the backcountry proper? Are there courses / group lessons for this in western WA? I haven’t really found anything besides resort lessons and guided trips for people with ski experience. Is this a stupid question and should I just start with resort lessons?

I enjoy hiking pretty seriously, especially backcountry/wilderness trips and scrambles. Now that I live in an area where there are real mountains, I’d like to continue to be out in them even when things are covered in snow. Basically I want to just continue to hike as I would in other seasons except on skis / skins. I don’t care about aggressive / technical skiing (not sure the proper term for it, but no jumps / tricks / big cliffs), just “dangerous snow hiking” as I saw in some comment elsewhere on this sub.

I’ve never skied before but I have a decent amount of rock climbing experience and I know that I really wish I had started outdoors instead of the gym. For climbing that’s totally doable. Is it possible to “start outdoors” for skiing? As in, learn to ski on snow that resembles real (non-groomed) conditions with uphill and downhill parts? Since I don’t have any interest in solo skiing and, unlike climbing, I can imagine a novice skier is not an appealing partner, does any resort or guide service in western WA offer group lessons for this kind of thing to maybe meet others with similar interests? Or is this a bad analogy and should I really start with resort ski lessons for awhile?

Before anyone points out the safety issues: I know taking an avalanche course is perhaps the most important part of safely traveling in the winter backcountry (skiing or otherwise). I plan to take one, but they all require or strongly recommend skiing experience beforehand (and it seems for a few AIARE courses I looked at in WA, they expect that you will ski out to wherever the outdoor lessons are held, so basically it’s a prerequisite).

**EDIT** Ok seems the unanimous advice is just start at the resort, thanks everyone for the tips!