Photo by Marko Korošec in Slovenia. Via thisiscolossal.com

This may look like a still from the trailer of a fictive blockbuster Aliens vs. Ice Giants, but it’s actually a photograph of nature on Mount Javornik in eastern Slovenia by Slovenian weather photographer Marko Korošec. Earlier this December, after periods of high winds, fog, and freezing temperatures, Korošec visited Mount Javornik and found everything covered in a deep layer of hard rime. Rime, or rime ice, is frost created on objects when water vapor freezes quickly. So in the photo above, perhaps a tree or small stone formation was being buffeted by freezing winds and fog, which accreted ice crystals on the structure that grew over time. The ice spikes, which apparently measured over three feet long in some cases, are formed by the continued winds that sculpt the rime into thin points.

You can learn more about Korošec at his website, and also check out his breathtaking gallery of photos on the site 5∞px. Here’s a link to his Facebook page, too.