I wouldn’t usually recommend an XC hardtail with clip-in pedals as a first mountain bike. That’s sort of like getting a Formula 1 racer as your first car. XC hardtails are intended for really only one thing and that’s winning XC races and are best when piloted by a highly fit and skilled rider. A progressive geometry Trail hardtail like the Spez Fuze 29er with 2.6 tires and flat pedals would be a better beginner Hardtail. The more forgiving geometry, grippier tires, and easy bailout of flat pedals would make for bike that is much easier to ride as a beginner. Even for an experienced rider, the Fuze is a better Trail bike.
However, you could make some changes to the Epic HT to make it more Trail worthy. The first would be to put on some wider grippier tires. Something like a 2.4 Maxxis Rekon on the rear and a 2.4 Maxxis Dissector or 2.6 Maxxis Rekon on the front would improve the performance of the Epic HT compared to the skimpy XC tires that come stock.
You might also want to start with some inexpensive flat pedals. Once you get more experienced, then you could go back to using clip-in pedals. Learning how to mountain bike and learning how to use clip-in pedals at the same time could lead to some painful crashes.