(CBS) BRAZIL- In the heat of the Rio de Janeiro sun, Santa Claus traded in the chimney for a more extreme arrival this Christmas, zip-lining down the city’s iconic Sugarloaf Mountain.

Dangling from the wires which carry hundreds of view-hungry tourists in cable cars between the mountains each day, Santa zipped down towards the city on Saturday (December 5).

Traditional family celebrations for Christmas take place on December 25 in Brazil, the largest predominantly Catholic country in the world. Although festivities are expected to look a little different this year amid the pandemic.

As of Saturday, Brazil has registered more than 6.5 million cases of coronavirus and over 176,000 deaths.