NW HIGHLANDS
It’s Assynt’s ignored mountain, the also-ran, the schedule filler. At least, that’s the perception, but is there more to CANISP than we’re giving it credit for? You’d better believe it.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: it’s a tough gig being a mountain in Assynt. Or, to be more accurate, it’s a tough gig being a mountain that isn’t Suilven in Assynt. You see, Assynt is the art museum in which Suilven is the Mona Lisa. Now, I’ve been to the Louvre in Paris, and I’ve queued up with the masses to look at Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous work of art; I must have spent an hour in that room.
But I couldn’t tell you the name of, or even describe to you, a single other painting that hung on adjacent walls. Such is the way with the mountains of Assynt. Everyone knows and remembers Suilven. Unless you’re a real mountain afficionado, the rest are just shapes. And of all the ‘not Suilven’ peaks, Canisp is the most ignored.
Part of the reason is that it’s just not as handsome or as interesting as the neighbouring mountains. And that’s not just my opinion. That online bible of mountain know-how, Wikipedia, has this to say on the matter: ‘Compared to the other Assynt hills, Canisp does not show any distinct topographic qualities’. Damned with faint praise indeed. But believe it or not (and luckily for Canisp), not everyone gets their mountain information from Wikipedia. In the hope that you might be among them, I’d like to sell you the upside of this underappreciated mountain.
A point of view
Ok, so Canisp might lack the immediate visual impact of some of the other Assynt hills (and yes, we’re probably thinking of Suilven again). But that’s not to say it isn’t an attractive looking peak in its own right. You just need to see it from its best angle. Or rather, angles, because Canisp is not a one-view wonder. Some people say that it’s best seen from the west, perhaps somewhere near Lochinver, from where it appears as an impressive conical mound. But it’s hard to get Canisp from that direction without also including Suilven in the view, at which point the latter once again steals the show. For an alternative, try gazing up at Canisp from the north, maybe from Inchnadamph on the eastern shore of Loch Assynt. From this angle, Canisp is a mighty towering wall of mountain – a steep, brutal chunk of rock that positively demands that you pay attention to it. No shrinking violet, no apologetic hanger-on – all of a sudden Canisp is front and centre and refusing to back down. And there’s not a hint of Suilven to be seen
