Gear advice for a beginner looking for a versatile setup

Hello - I've been doing back-country hiking, snowshoeing, and light mountaineering / scrambling for a number of years. I'm an avid adventurer in this domain, though most of my pursuits have been limited to the summer months. While snowshoeing is plenty fun, I'm convinced that  "the way" to get around most efficiently in the backcountry is with skis. (Where I live, there is usually snow at 1200m+ for 8 or more months of the year.)

With that said, I'm super keen to take up skiing with the primary aim of traversing mixed terrain in the backcountry (off piste) with a 40-50L pack. Based on what I've read, I believe what I have in mind is best described as "alpine touring". However, I'm also interested in hitting the local ski hill (resort context, on piste) a few times a night for some more "type-one fun", but I am willing to sacrifice performance/ease in this context for better efficiency in an alpine touring context. That said, I have purchased a ski pass for my local resort in order to get more comfortable / skilled with skis in general before venturing into backcountry, and do not want a system that will be super difficult to learn downhill fundamentals as a beginner.

As a complete beginner (to both downhill and  alpine ski-touring), I am looking for recommendations and guidance on what gear I should procure to get a highly versatile setup where there is a balance of trade-offs in performance for on- and off-piste, downhill performance and slogging up a mountain, and efficiency/performance for traversing through rolling and semi-flat terrain (usually more so associated with cross-country skiing). Obviously, good compatibility with ski crampons and skins is something I desire.

Maybe what I'm looking for is asking for too much. Based on what I've described above, some colleagues at work have recommended that I look into the Salomon 98s with either Salomon or Atomic "Shift" bindings. Didn't discuss boots, skins, or poles. What do folks think?

And if you need to stray into other terrain, be my guest. There is a good possibility that I am not asking asking the "right" questions or there are other considerations I need to be aware of. 

Thanks all!