This picture taken on December 17, 2013 shows people taking photos of a pole dancer (R) practising after it snowed in Tianjin during a promotional event by members of China's national pole dancing team and students of the sport. China set up its first national pole dancing team in Tianjin in 2012 in order to compete in the World Pole Dancing Championships. (Photo by AFP Photo)

Ultra orthodox children stick their tongues out as snow falls on March 2, 2012 in Jerusalem, Israel. This is the first time in four years that the Israeli captial has experienced snow fall. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

A man lies on the floor during a ritual at the Sorte Mountain on the outskirts of Chivacoa, in the state of Yaracuy, Venezuela October 10, 2015. One long night every year in a mountainous rainforest in Venezuela, hundreds gather to dance on red-hot embers, enter trance-like states, and worship an ancient goddess known as Maria Lionza. Those who travel to the mountain known as Sorte in central Venezuela are practitioners of a cult that is built on local indigenous traditions. (Photo by Marco Bello/Reuters)

Amateur Iranian photographer Mohammad Reza Domiri Ganji, 23 likes to learn as much as he can about a site before he photographs it. Then he utilizes a variety of wide-angle and fisheye lenses, as well as occasional panoramic techniques to create beautiful new, often mind-bending images. He usually shoots the architectural wonders of Iran, and hopes that the Iranian government will allow him to travel further from home in pursuit of other iconic architectural treasures. Photo: The Nasir al-mulk or “Pink” mosque in Shiraz, Iran. (Photo by Mohammad Reza Domiri Ganj)

A sculptor walks past ice sculptures at the Snow and Ice Sculpture Festival “Eiswelt Mainz” in Mainz, Germany, November 22, 2016. (Photo by Ralph Orlowski/Reuters)

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.