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 donkey savors warming temperatures after a long winter at the zoo in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday, April 8, 2015. (Photo by Czarek Sokolowski/AP Photo)
Children of the Roma community play as they cool off in a fountain in the main square of Pristina, Kosovo on June 14, 2017. (Photo by Armend Nimani/AFP Photo)
Santa Students practice dancing during the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School workshop on October 16, 2008 in Midland, Michigan. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)