Outpeople: David Uhlenkott’s vocations blend work, play

It’s a foggy, spring morning in Eastern Washington’s Northrup Canyon, a favorite rock-climbing destination that surrounds Banks Lake. Crisp air whips through the canyon, bouncing off granite walls that begin immediately where the water ends, ascending straight up to the sky for hundreds of feet. Down below, in the dim, predawn light, two climbers are preparing for an approach to a challenging route, high up in the canyon, in a place that few climbers go.

After methodically negotiating the lower two-thirds of the route, the lead climber pauses to rest at a “chimney” section (a rock cleft with three vertical sides, mostly parallel), 20 feet from the top. Before solving this final approach, he breathes deeply to clear his mind of the tension. He clips his rope into a quickdraw, places his feet on the wall in front of him, his back against the wall behind him and surveys the expansive view below.

Just then, a faint rustling coming from the small, dark cave just above his head grabs his attention. Cautiously, he turns his head and rises to eye level with the cave only to see two big, yellow eyes and a sharp set of talons headed straight for him. His adrenaline peaking, he lets out a loud scream, ducking just in time as a massive owl, disturbed from its nest, grazes the back of his neck as it rockets into flight. Hearing the ruckus from above, the belayer below tightens the rope, sensing that something is wrong. Seeing the owl soaring to the sky above, both climbers stop and watch in amazement, reveling in the moment.

To David Uhlenkott, its just a typical Tuesday, his favorite day to climb.

In the modern 9-5 world where people are battling more than ever for work-life balance, Uhlenkott, takes a different vocational approach that aims to eliminate the battle altogether.

His current list of occupations reads like a How-to-Have-Fun-and-Make-Money manual. While each job has a level of part-time commitment, they all afford him some degree of flexibility to chase winter storms, embark on weeklong climbing trips in the desert, or just spend an afternoon photographing outdoor landscapes.

“I’m working toward never having to fight for a work-life balance. I want to enjoy everything I’m doing, and have the flexibility to make the most of what I’m given each day,” said Uhlenkott.

“My work is definitely still work, but all of it keeps me outside, and, on at least some level, has an element of adventure and art.”

He works as a freelance real estate photographer, a Mt. Spokane snowboard instructor and perhaps the most interesting of the three, a “tree climber,” a job created by the Forest Service, using harvested pine cones to help re-forestation efforts around National Forests.

“I get to free climb up to the top of these huge trees – that’s where the pine cones usually have the most seed,” he said. “Once at the top, I tie-in and rappel down, stopping to pick cones where they grow.

“It’s definitely fun, but trying to get paid for things I enjoy doing doesn’t always pay well, although it does at the very least make a lot of my outdoor passions free-of-charge.”

Behind this climber-bum exterior, lies a man with a vision toward the future. As president of “KillBillies,” his new, developing business venture, he’s growing the local downhill skateboard community by organizing and running a number of downhill races this year in Spokane, as well as a few larger projects around the state.

“I’m working toward higher certification levels in my snowboard instructing, so that I’m ready if opportunity knocks there, but my main focus over the next couple of years will be these racing events,” he said. “That community is growing very fast and we have quite a few amazing riders in Spokane right now.

Uhlenkott has made it a priority to pass his values on to the next generation. Feeling that the rigid schedule of public schooling was robbing his kids of valuable adventure time, he began home-schooling his boys last summer so that they might be able to tag along for some of Dad’s adventures.

“Last fall I was climbing trees for the Forest Service in South Dakota and I was able to take my kids along on the trip, as well as my mom to help with the kids while I was working” he said.

“We were camped for three weeks in the middle of nowhere and the boys had to learn how to make a campsite, cook over a fire and do their schoolwork out there. It was a pretty special time that we’ll never forget.”