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.

Demonstrators clash with riot police during a protest against President Sebastian Piñera on October 21, 2019 in Santiago, Chile. President Sebastian Piñera suspended the 3.5% subway fare hike and declared the state of emergency for the first time since the return of democracy in 1990. Protests had begun on Friday and developed into looting and arson, generating chaos in Santiago, Valparaiso and a dozen other cities resulting in at least 8 dead. (Photo by Marcelo Hernandez/Getty Images)

A woman cries while being escorted by police officers during an anti-government protest in Santiago, Chile, 07 November 2019. A proposed increase in the price of metro fares sparked a series of anti-government protests that have left at least 20 people dead. The protestors are demanding improvements in the quality of healthcare, education and general distribution of wealth in Chile. (Photo by Orlando Barría/EPA/EFE)

Andreyka, a 10-month-old female bear cub, plays with Rommi, an Alaskan malamute, at the Siberian Zoo in the settlement of Listvyanka, Irkutsk Region, Russia on December 9, 2020. The bear cub, which was found in a weak condition earlier this year, now play-fights with the Alaskan malamute, who adopted her and has seen three generations of bear cubs brought up in the Siberian zoo and released back into the wild. (Photo by Yuri Novikov/Reuters)

A supporter of the Houthis has a poster attached to his waist of Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, who was killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, during a rally to denounce the U.S. killing, in Saada, Yemen January 6, 2020. The writing on the poster reads: “God is the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam”. (Photo by Naif Rahma/Reuters)

Khadjou Sambe, 25, surfs off the coast of Ngor, Dakar, Senegal, August 18, 2020. Growing up in the coastal capital of Dakar, Sambe never saw a Black woman surfing the Atlantic swells. As Senegal's first female professional surfer, Sambe is now inspiring the next generation to defy cultural norms and take to the waves as a surfing coach for local girls. “When I am in the water I feel something extraordinary, something special in my heart”, Sambe said. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

Xiren Wang, Lili Wat, and Sitong Chen join the pageant’s opening routine, dancing to “The Boys”, a song by K-Pop group «Girls’ Generation». While the women come from a range of professional backgrounds – including economics, nursing, and acting – every contestant is looking for her big break into the entertainment industry. Most contestants said they would prefer to have a career in the U.S. but would go wherever the opportunity lies. (Photo and caption by John Brecher/Sahra Vang Nguyen/NBC News)

Workers prepare Koshary, a popular Egyptian dish, in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the world's biggest plate of Koshary, at a general garden in Zamalek, Cairo, January 17, 2015. Koshary is a traditional Egyptian dish dating to the 19th century in which rice, pasta and lentils are mixed together in one plate with a topping of spicey tomato sauce and some crispy fried onions. With a huge plate of koshary measuring 10 metres long and in width and of 1.2 metres in height, the plate weighed 7 tonnes, or about 7,000 kg. About 6,000 attendees turned up to the festival, earning it a place in the world record books. (Photo by Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)