Banner In The Sky

Banner in the Sky, published by Harper Collins in 1954, is American author and mountaineer James Ramsey Ullman’s most popular novel. Based on the true story of the ascent of the Matterhorn, it tells the story of Rudi Matt, a 16-year-old boy who desperately wants to climb the Citadel, the mountain that claimed his father's life. Through Rudi’s journey, the novel explores themes of Maturity and Masculinity, The Relationship Between Humans and Nature, and The Balance of Risk and Courage. Banner in the Sky was popular both in the United States and abroad, winning the 1955 Newbery Honor award. Walt Disney Pictures adapted it as the movie Third Man on the Mountain, which became the basis for the Matterhorn Bobsleds attraction at Disneyland.

Ullman began mountain climbing in college, climbed the Matterhorn and Popocatépetl, among others, and participated in the 1963 American expedition to Mount Everest. He wrote approximately 20 books about the field, most notably Banner in the Sky and The White Tower, both of which were adapted into major motion pictures. He also worked with Tenzing Norgay—who, along with Sir Edward Hillary, was one of the first two men to reach the summit of Mount Everest—as a ghostwriter for his autobiography, Tiger of the Snows.