The new wisdom holds that avalanche accidents don't happen due to bizarre quirks of fate. There is a particular set of physical and human factors that underlie each accident. There is a lot of knowledge that you can acquire about the factors that result in avalanche accidents. It starts with some basic awareness. Avalanche statistics tell us about the nature of the beast.
Most accidents involve slab avalanches.
The victim, or a member of the victim's party, usually triggers the slab that kills them. Skiers and climbers make up the bulk of the numbers. However, snowmobilers and snowboarders are surpassing the old guard at an alarming rate. Last year, the snowmobile category alone accounted for almost half of the fatal accidents in North America. What you do and where you do it become important as you learn about avalanche hazard.