The head of a mountain ram is attached to a wooden column at the site used for shamans' rituals in the Aldyn Bulak area on the bank of the Yenisei River during sunset outside the village of Elegest, Tuva region, Southern Siberia, Russia, October 7, 2015. The region is inhabited by Tuvans, historically cattle-herding nomads, who nowadays practise two main confessions – Buddhism and Shamanism. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

A Nativity scene is seen at the window of a house in the medieval mountain village of Luceram as part of Christmas holiday season, France, December 15, 2016. Luceram presents more than 450 creches (Nativity scenes) from the tiny to the huge yearly in December as part of the Circuit des Creches. (Photo by Eric Gaillard/Reuters)

Traditional sculptures by Chin tribe in, Mindat, Myanmar, November 2016. In the mountains of Myanmar lives a tribe where the women have taken a unique approach to their beauty regime by decorating their faces with tattoos. The Chin people in the remote mountain town of Mindat, have been marking women in the area with intricate face tattoos for centuries. (Photo by Teh Han Lin/Barcroft Images)

Race winner USA's Mikaela Shiffrin reacts as she is symbolically crowned on the podium after competing in the Women's Giant Slalom on January 24, 2023 in Plan de Corones (Kronplatz), Dolomites Mountains, as part of the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. (Photo by Marco Bertorello/AFP Photo)

The Taiwan Blue Magpie (Urocissa caerulea), also called the Taiwan Magpie or Formosan Blue Magpie, is a member of the Crow family. It is an endemic species living in the mountains of Taiwan at elevations of 300 to 1200m.

“A snapshot from mountaineer's life”. Have you ever wondered how does a mountaineer's day start? I will give you a hint: you wake up at 3 am, set the stove, wake up your partner, pretend it is warm, quickly consume a high-calorie breakfast, watch your friends slowly ascending the icy slopes of your dream summit with their tiny head torches glimmering against perfectly blue ice, and hope for the good weather. One would ask: why all this trouble? The answer is easy: for the love of the adventure and the unknown. Location: Chamonix, Haute Savoye, France. (Photo and caption by Kamil Tamiola/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

A golden huddle by Minqiang Lu, China. Two females and a male golden snub-nosed monkey huddle together to keep warm in the extreme cold. Threatened by forest loss and fragmentation, this endangered species is confined to central China. Restricted to living high up in the temperate forests, these monkeys – here in the Qinling mountains in Shaanxi province – feed mostly in the trees, on leaves, bark, buds and lichen. In heavy wind and snow, Minqiang walked up the mountain carrying his equipment. He stayed for half an hour in temperatures of –10C opposite the tree where the group was huddled before achieving this eye-level composition. (Photo by Minqiang Lu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

Farmers arrange bunches of water lilies after harvesting them from the wetlands in Barishal, Bangladesh on March 21, 2023. Floating through 10,000 acres of canal, farmers use their little boats to fetch the flowers. (Photo by Joy Saha/Cover Images)