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.

Ngorongoro Crater (Tanzania). At 610m deep and 260 sq km, this is the largest unflooded caldera in the world. A blue-green vision from above it's a haven for engangered wildlife and Maasai livestock. The crater was formed three million years ago when a giant volcano, which could have been as high as Kilimanjaro, exploded and collapsed. The caldera formed the concentric fractures in the crust cracked down to a magma reservoir deep underground. (Photo by John Bryant/Getty Images)

In this photo taken on Sunday, March 15, 2015, a Nenets woman rides steers a sled during a reindeer race at the Reindeer Herder's Day in the city of Nadym, in Yamal-Nenets Region, 2500 kilometers (about 1553 miles) northeast of Moscow, Russia. For the indigenous nomadic Nenets people, the Reindeer Herder's Day offers a chance to show their prowess in wrestling, high jumps and other traditional local sports, but, above all, reindeer races. (Photo by Dmitry Lovetsky/AP Photo)

A swimmer stops short of a red algae bloom at Sydney's Clovelly Beach on November 27, 2012, which closed some beaches for swimming including Bondi Beach for a period of time. While the red algae, known as Noctiluca scintillans or sea sparkle, has no toxic effects, people are still advised to avoid swimming in areas with discoloured water because the algae, which can be high in ammonia, can cause skin irritation. (Photo by William West/AFP Photo)

People watch as workers inflate a near-10 metre high giant spider by Singaporean artist Jackson Tan in Singapore's Marina Bay financial district on February 6, 2017. The spider is one of several inflatable creatures that will form the Art-Zoo, a section created by Singaporean artist Jackson Tan for the iLight Marina Bay annual light-art festival in the city-state. (Photo by Roslan Rahman/AFP Photo)

Sugar gliders, Candy and Popcorn, enjoy their favourite food, Nectar, at Wild Life Sydney Zoo on February 14, 2017 in Sydney, Australia. The treat made up of honey, high protein baby cereal and egg yolks is the human equivalent to chocolate to the Sugar Gliders. St. Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine began as a celebration of the early Christian Saint Valentinus. From the 18th Century onwards it has steadily transformed into a celebration of romantic love and sentiment in many countries around the world. (Photo by James D. Morgan/Getty Images)

In this May 14, 2016 photo, children wearing their school backpacks climb on a cliff using a bamboo ladder on their way home from school in Zhaojue county, southwest China's Sichuan province. A village in China's mountainous west where schoolchildren must climb an 800-meter (2,625-foot)-high bamboo ladder secured to a sheer cliff face may get a set of steel stairs to improve it's safety. (Photo by Chinatopix via AP Photo)

An Indian white tiger cools off in a pond in its enclosure at Chhat Bir Zoo on the outskirts of Chandigarh on May 22, 2016. Temperatures have soared to a scorching 51 degrees Celsius in one Indian city, meteorologists said, with the ferocious heat setting a new national record. Northern Phalodi wilted as the mercury reached a new high on May 20, equivalent to 123.8 Fahrenheit, beating a 60-year-old record. (Photo by Shammi Mehra/AFP Photo)