nieve penitente
noun
nie·ve pen·i·ten·te
nēˈāvāˌpenəˈtentā,
ˈnyāv-
plural nieves penitentes
-vās … tās
: a jagged sometimes curved pinnacle of ice or névé produced by uneven melting of a snowbank or of the surface of a glacier
also : an assemblage of such pinnacles compare serac
Word History
Etymology
Spanish, literally, penitent snow; from the illusion of kneeling human figures