Greg Kopache glides through the air for a moment after taking along Channel Drive the Evening of Sept. 22, 2020. Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Greg Kopache glides through the air for a moment after taking along Channel Drive the Evening of Sept. 22, 2020. Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Photo chute: Paragliders add color to gray evening

The bright yellow and orange in the near-dusk sky weren’t from a brilliant Juneau sunset.

The bright yellow and orange in the near-dusk sky weren’t from a brilliant Juneau sunset.

A pair of paragliders were the source of the fluorescent coloration along the Gastineau Channel on an otherwise gray and windy Tuesday evening.

Greg Kopache and Nigel Krumdicek had come to the area to make use of the windy weather, which they did taking short gravity-defying bounds that would have been in place on a lunar surface.

“See what the gulls are doing?” Kopach said while gesturing toward a seagull tilting its wings while gliding in place. “That’s what we’re doing.”

• Contact Ben Hohenstatt at (907)308-4895 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenHohenstatt.

Nigel Krumdicek, Greg Kopache’s chute and a bird glide along Channel Drive, Sept. 22, 2020.

Nigel Krumdicek, Greg Kopache’s chute and a bird glide along Channel Drive, Sept. 22, 2020.

Paragliders’ chutes added some vibrant colors to otherwise gray skies, Sept. 22, 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Paragliders’ chutes added some vibrant colors to otherwise gray skies, Sept. 22, 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Nigel Krumdicek looks up while touching down near the channel on Sept. 22, 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Nigel Krumdicek looks up while touching down near the channel on Sept. 22, 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Greg Kopache said he often paraglides near Mount Roberts, but on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020, he was one half of a pair of gliders floating along Channel Drive. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Greg Kopache said he often paraglides near Mount Roberts, but on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020, he was one half of a pair of gliders floating along Channel Drive. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

After a short bound, Greg Kopache floats back to earth on Sept. 22, 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

After a short bound, Greg Kopache floats back to earth on Sept. 22, 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

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