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 Chelsea Pensioner poses as he views displays through a floral design of Britain's Queen Elizabeth at the Chelsea Flower Show in London, Britain, May 23, 2016. (Photo by Toby Melville/Reuters)

People train parrots during a parrot-training show held by Kuwaiti bird lovers in Jahra Governorate, Kuwait, December 7, 2020. (Photo by Xinhua News Agency/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A performer from Cirque du Soleil's show “Quidam” practices backstage before a show at the MEO Arena in Lisbon December 18, 2014. (Photo by Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

Performers dressed as Pikachu, the popular animation Pokemon series character, perform in the Pikachu parade in Yokohama on August 7, 2016. Some 50 life-size Pikachu characters, the most famous from the Pokemon game, marched along the city’s waterfront street as visitors took mobile phone pictures and videos of them in scorching sunshine. Some participants said they attended the event to search for rare characters of Pokemon – a word short for “pocket monster” – for the megahit smartphone app, which was launched in several countries around the world last month. (Photo by Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP Photo)

Dancers warm up in the wings before performing in a full-dress rehearsal at the Moulin Rouge in Paris on September 8, 2021, two days ahead of the reopening of the cabaret following an 18-month closure amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Closed for a year and a half due to the pandemic, the Moulin Rouge and Le Lido, emblems of the crazy Parisian nights since 1889, are finally reopening. (Photo by Christophe Archambault/AFP Photo)

A British woman plays a piano designed especially for people who are confined to bed. Date: 1935. (Photo by Mary Evans Picture Library/Caters News)