>>1146604Carry gear. Beacon/shovel/probe at minimum (that gear's more to save your friends than it is for you), avalanche airbag pack is recommended (gear to save your ass).
Having the gear is step-1, doesn't do much good if you don't have some skills with the gear.
About half the victims in an avalanche don't survive till the snow even stops. Blunt-force trauma, broken neck, etc. Of the "lucky" 50%, there's about a 15-minute window before the rescue turns into a recovery, so you have to know what you're doing and how to effectively and efficiently make that rescue happen.
So take a class, learn how to use the gear.
Use your local avalanche forecast center. Look at the conditions, read the bulletin, and make a trip plan with that information. "Going here, crossing this, when we get to this area with overhanging hazards, we're going through one at a time."
Learn to read terrain so you don't find yourself in a place you shouldn't be.
