Penitentes, or nieves penitentes (Spanish for “penitent-shaped snows”), are a snow formation found at high altitudes. They take the form of tall thin blades of hardened snow or ice, closely spaced with the blades oriented towards the general direction of the sun.

A general view shows smoke and volcanic ashes billowing from volcano Cotopaxi in Pedregal, Ecuador, late 07 October 2015. (Photo by Jose Jacome/EPA)

Russian policemen detain a person taking part in an unauthorized protest against Russia's partial military mobilization due to the conflict in Ukraine, in downtown Moscow, Russia on 24 September 2022. Russian President Putin announced in a televised address to the nation on 21 September, that he signed a decree on partial mobilization in the Russian Federation. Russian citizens who are in the reserve will be called up for military service. On 24 February 2022 Russian troops entered the Ukrainian territory in what the Russian president declared a “Special Military Operation”, starting an armed conflict that has provoked destruction and a humanitarian crisis. (Photo by Maxim Shipenkov/EPA/EFE)

A crowd of tourists walk on the street near Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto, western Japan on March 30, 2023. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)

A worker shows crayfish during an event celebrating the harvest season of crayfish in Xuyi County of Huai'an, east China's Jiangsu Province on May 18, 2022. Crayfish is one of the renowned specialties in Xuyi County. (Photo by Li Bo/Xinhua/Alamy Live News)

Two Scottish shorthair cats dressed with red hats are pictured during a cat exhibition in Bishkek, on October 16, 2016. Cat lovers from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan took part in the exhibition. (Photo by Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP Photo)

Sarah Bui poses for photographer, Brian Le around blossoming cherry trees, near the Tidal Basin on Thursday March 23, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

Photographer and editor with Reuters for 22 years, Andrew Winning has died of brain cancer at the age of 49. Here: Elite special police run for cover after gunfire was heard from inside the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, Peru, January 27, 1997. At the moment the shots were fired, police were parading past the residence in a show of force, and helicopters were flying above. Earlier, several armored personnel carriers rolled past the compound. Tupac Amaru rebels had seized the diplomatic compound December 17 and held 72 hostages. (Photo by Andrew Winning/Reuters)