All this sounds reasonable to me. The only two avalanches I have been been near didn't quite hit me (in one I hid behind a big rock). I used to carry the thin red "avalanche cord" but haven't seen that for 40 years! Nowadays we simply don't hike/climb below any loaded slopes when the NW avalanche center reports any hazard at all. We have found plenty of places to hike and snow shoe and climb and sky w/o tons of snow lurking above us.