try! you wouldn't believe what the loads of travel and really slack geometry of a downhill bike will do for you in terms of confidence with steeps, terrain and speed. obviously there's a bit of an adjustment period, but i'll do stuff on this bike that i wouldn't remotely consider doing on my XC bike. it's almost like the downhill bike does all the work for you...all you gotta do is hang on and feel comfortable letting it move beneath you.

most lift-served resorts rent DH bikes. like irulan said, skills development is important, and i wouldn't recommend a pure beginner hit a resort and start riding all the black diamonds right away, but i bet most of you are MUCH better riders than you give yourselves credit for. i was intimidated, too. and then i went to whistler, rode, went again, rode some more, and had enough fun that i bought my own "big rig".

i started riding my XC/AM bike faster and more confidently immediately after my first trip renting DH bikes at whistler. they are super complimentary skill-sets. and both really, really fun!