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.

Snake woman Lunga performs on stage during the “Das Goldene Lenkrad” (“The Golden Steering Wheel”) award ceremony on November 5, 2008 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Raising a flag over the Reichstag is a historic World War II photograph taken during the Battle of Berlin on 2 May 1945, by Yevgeny Khaldei.

Finia, a visiting student from Hanover, cools off under a water sprinkler in front of the Chancellery on June 10, 2010 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

A demolition company explodes the support beams and columns in the roof of the Deutschlandhalle event location on December 3, 2011 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images)

Remi Bizouard races at the Night of the Jumps freestyle motocross acrobatics at O2 arena on March 16, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images)

The 3D street painting “Crevasse” by artist Edgar Mueller is seen in this undated picture during the “Festival of culture”, 2008 in Dun Laoghaire, Irland. Edgar Mueller put a part of the eastern Pier into the ice age. This project has been supported by the Goethe Institution Germany. (Photo by Edgar Mueller/Getty Images)