Replying to Avalanche prone area

it was a crazy pow day at my local mountain today and i thought it’d be a good opportunity to try some of the harder runs at the top of the mountain that i hadn’t been on before. things went well and it was great, got pow all over my face, but i wanted to ask and potentially get more educated on avalanche danger and safety. there were signs along the way, even at the lift, that had warnings about the area being prone to avalanches, and i honestly got really paranoid cause i was skiing by myself on unfamiliar terrain and had no avalanche training or equipment whatsoever. upon looking around at everyone else in the lift line and during the hike up, i’d say a solid 80 or 90% of people had backpacks with them. granted, they could’ve just been filled with food and drinks, but im sure some actually had probes and shovels and whatnot.

im just wondering if it’s safe to be skiing the way i did today, going on new terrain by myself with no equipment. back in december there was news that someone in a group of 7 or so backcountry skiers got caught in an avalanche at my mountain, in the same area i skied today, and unfortunately died.

i did ask to follow someone, shout out to the guy with the revolt 121’s that let me follow and took me down the easiest way, but i felt really skeptical and honestly a bit stupid for even going up to begin with. should i stay away from this kind of terrain until i bring the proper equipment and have the proper training?