[1][2][3] Its appearance when viewed from the south-west, i.e., from the direction of Porthmadog, has earned it the sobriquet the "Matterhorn of Wales", albeit being 3,789 metres lower.

In reality, Cnicht is a long ridge and, at 689 m, is the fifth-highest peak in the Moelwynion mountain range.

It can be easily ascended from Croesor, the village at its foot, or, with more difficulty, from Nant Gwynant to the northwest.

The mountain's name is thought to derive from the English surname Knight, the name of a family who were formerly merchants in Caernarfon.

[4] It appears as the "Saeth" in Patrick O'Brian's 1952 novel Three Bear Witness (published as Testimonies in the USA), which is set in a fictionalised version of Cwm Croesor.