The Bellinhgam Eagles had shut down following the 2001 season with staff and players going their separate ways.  Craig Jackson and Dan Poasa felt the withdrawl after a couple of years and the Avalanche formed.  They would start out as an independent team in 2004 playing a seven-game season against Northwest League opponents, with plans to join as full members in 2005.  The franchise opened with a 31-28 victory over Wenatchee entry Apple Valley Bucks.  Back-to-back overtime losses were sandwiched in between victories, nearly pulling off a comeback victory in Kelso, Washington.  Spotting the Washington Cavaliers a 17-0 lead, Northwest changed offensive schemes and scored 18 unanswered points, kept the Cavalier offense stymied in the second half and the defense on its heels before an interception halted the comeback attempt.  The Cavaliers returned an INT and a fumble for scores salvaging the win. The Avalanche had succesfully returned Bellingham to the semi-pro football scene.  Rob Prescott set a team record with 190 yards receiving in the overtime loss to Renton.

The Avs did become full members of the NWFL in 2005 and suffered through their worst season in team history going 1-11 salvaging the season with a 7-0 victory against the Pierce County Bengals.  Offense was a struggle as the team only broke double digits once all season, being shut out five times, scoring 6 points the entire month of July.  The team also missed Robby Smith as the Avs special teams standout in 2004, Smith, an all-state kicker from Bellingham High in 2002 enrolled at Ventura Junior College in California before joining the Western Washington University team for 2006-2007 where he was Honorable Mention North Central Conference tying a school record with a 54-yard field goal. Smith would kick indoors for the Tri Cities Fever in 2008 and with the Bellingham Blitz in 2009 where he set a kicking points in a game record with 16 total on 3 field goals and 7 PATs.
 
Owner Craig Jackson decided to try something new.  With a change in looks and a change in leagues, the Avalanche left the NWFL for the spring-time Pacific Northwest Conference.  Jackson also assisted Navy sailor and 2005 Avalanche volunteer Randy Rogers with forming a team for the Skagit Valley area near Oak Harbor.  Sitting at 1-1 on the season, the Avalanche took on the newly formed Seattle Stallions, a who's-who team of Northwest League summer players.  The Stallions won 27-0 in a game that featured 21 turnovers.  The Avalanche commited 14 of them. The Stallions scored one offensive touchdown, the rest coming on an INT return, a fumble return and a blocked punt.  After defeating Skagit Valley in the inaugural "Chuckanut Trophy" game, the Avalanche set a record by taking the Pierce County Knights into five-overtimes before Sean Foster kicked a 30-yard field goal to boost Northwest to a 3-0 win.  Foster had missed two earlier overtime attempts.  The change worked as they finished 5-4 with an appearance in the Pacific Northwest Conference playoffs.
 
The lended assistance to Rogers in starting the Lightning may have cost the Avalanche in the long run as 2007 brought the team back down to earth finishing 2-7, with many former Bellingham players joining the Oak Harbor franchise.  Skagit and Northwest would split their two game set as one of only two wins Skagit earned on the season. The season was tough sledding including a thrashing at the hands of the South Sound Shockers in the PNFC Playoffs 63-0, which proved to be the final Avalanche game.  Jackson would sell the team off to Jeff Fisher and Dick McKinley who reorganized under the name Bellingham Bulldogs.  McKinley would serve as head coach, while son Mike, 2-time All-Conference tailback would be a key weapon for the 2008 campaign.  Jeff Fisher had been with the Eagles franchise in 2000 as a defensive end and returned to that spot almost a decade later as well as handled team promotions.  Dan Poasa would stay on as offensive coordinator for the spring schedule before coming out of player-retirement to join the British Columbia Spartans during their summer North American Football League season.

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