Environmental Portrait: In Their Element

            Bobby Faller, 21, is a frequent visitor to Vital, a climbing gym located in downtown Bellingham, Wash.

            While he enjoys the social aspect of the gym, he prefers climbing among natural elements, which was how he was first introduced to the sport, in California.

“The outdoors are so much better than inside,” Faller said. “There’s a different connection with the rock.”

Faller is preparing for his second climbing competition in Bellingham, which is to be held at Vital on Feb. 22.

“I have always been competitive, and with climbing you are competing with inanimate objects,” Faller said.