Richard,
When I first moved to western Colorado in the early 80's, I had the opportunity to ski Telluride and Crested Butte for under $20 a day. I refused to take any lessons and spent most of those early days by myself looking like a yard sale on the mountain. My stuff was scattered all over the hill with me spending most of my time either climbing back up the hill to retrieve skis, poles and dignity or sliding on my butt down the hill to retrieve skis, poles or manhood. I learned quickly to take a lesson and quicky applied those lessons on some of the longests and steepest runs in the world. I soon gave up my downhills for telemark skiing and did that for 20 years. When snow boards came out, I took a lesson and was able to enjoy the day actually dragging a knuckle.
If you are looking for a tip, the best one is to take a lesson and learn the keys to snowboarding. Once you do that, it becomes lots of fun. One of keys is to always be on one edge or moving to the other. If you try to ride on the bottom of the board (which seems to make sense), you will either be eating snow chowder or flat on your back. Also, learning how to coordinate lifting toes and raising heels and pointing to your target will help you enjoy the day.
Best advice is to take that 1/2 day lesson.
If all else fails, ski Mahogany run and carve a few turns on the deck. It tognar, dude. (Totally gnarly). Tim