portuguese settlers named the mountain 'pão de açúcar' due to its appearance, as in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the peak of the sugarcane cycle in brazil, raw sugar was refined through a series of heating and filtering processes.

the last phase involved pouring the sugar into inverted conical, or cone-shaped, clay molds called 'sugarloaves' resembling the natural structure -  the sugar could then be stored and transported with ease. 

the cable cars running to the summit of sugarloaf, at nearly 400 meters above sea level, can also be seen travelling slowly across the steel zip-line stretched across the skyline.