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. Ullman died of cancer in 1971.

Plot Summary

Rudi Matt leaves his job as a dishwasher to climb in the mountains. Despite the objections of his uncle and his mother, he regularly skips church, school, and work to go climbing. After visiting his father’s memorial shrine in the woods, he heads to the Blue Glacier at the foot of the Citadel. There, he finds a man stuck in a crevasse. Knowing that there isn’t enough time before nightfall to bring a search party, Rudi courageously creates a rope out of his own clothing and hiking pole. While he nearly falls in, Rudi manages to pull up the man, a famous mountaineer named Captain Winter. Despite Rudi’s attempts to keep his outing secret, his mother, and his uncle catch him when he returns to the hotel. Winter stands up for Rudi, explaining that he saved his life, and convinces his uncle, an Alpine guide named Franz Lerner, to accompany him on the easy climb of the Wunderhorn. As a reward for his bravery, Rudi is allowed to join them, using his new climbing gear, a gift from Winter.

On the Wunderhorn, Rudi is ecstatic to be included with the men and wants to prove himself. While trying to find a better route down, he wanders off onto a ledge that he can’t get back from. Franz must climb out on a rope to fetch Rudi, and he knows that this is the end of his hiking days. Not only is Rudi disappointed, but he also feels ashamed for committing a climber’s “worst crime”—making someone else risk their life to save you. A few days later, Rudi shares his story with Old Teo, the cook at the hotel where he works. Teo, who limps due to his accident on the climb that killed Rudi’s father, chastises him for his foolishness. However, he invites him to skip school the next day so they can practice climbing together. Thanks to Teo’s willingness to risk his own safety to practice, Rudi learns a lot about skills such as rock scrambling and using a rope.

During the outing, Teo tells the story of climbing the Citadel with Rudi’s father, Josef, who could have returned home alive but refused to leave their client, Sir Edward Stephenson, who was injured in a rockslide. While Teo tried to get help, Matt stayed overnight with Stephenson, giving his own shirt to try to keep him warm. They both died that night, and Teo injured his leg. Rudi is encouraged by his own progress and hopes to climb with Winter again. After returning to the hotel, Rudi is crestfallen to hear that Winter left Kurtal to find another guide after unsuccessfully begging Franz to climb with him. Rudi struggles to focus on work. Worst of all, the other boys mock him. When Rudi hears that Winter is climbing with Emil Saxo, a guide from Kurtal’s rival town, Broli, Rudi makes up his mind: That night, he leaves a note telling his mother he will be fine, takes his equipment from his uncle’s house, and leaves for the Citadel.

At the base of the glacier, Rudi finds a climber’s hut where Saxo, a strong and imposing man, waits with Winter. The two men are scouting out their approach and will climb the whole mountain soon. While Saxo laughs at the idea of Rudi joining them, Winter welcomes Rudi, who promises him that he has his uncle’s permission. Vowing not to wander off again, Rudi carefully follows Winter and Saxo up the glacier. Because they left late in the morning, the melting snow cascades in an avalanche. Rudi manages to get out of the snow and helps Saxo dig out Winter, who injured his head falling against a rock. When they make it back to camp, Rudi is exhausted.

Back in Kurtal, Franz returns from a climb to the local meeting place called the Edelweiss. As the men drink their beer, they discuss Winter and Saxo’s attempt to climb the Citadel and are distraught at the idea of the proud and boastful Saxo’s summiting before a Kurtaler. When Rudi’s mother, Ilse, arrives, she asks Franz where Rudi is. They realize he escaped again, and Franz promises to find him, assuring her he won’t have gone far. Once she leaves, he announces that he is going to the Citadel to fetch Rudi and bring him back. Old Teo says it is wrong to keep Rudi from his passion. He claims Rudi has more courage than the other climbers and raises a toast to his success. Franz gathers a group to go up to the hut.

Winter and Saxo leave to get supplies in Broli. While Winter won’t allow Rudi to climb the Citadel with them, he asks him to go back to Kurtal and convince Franz to reconsider. Rudi starts to head home but climbs back up the glacier instead, trying to make it to the Fortress—the farthest spot ever reached on the Citadel. He advances quickly because of the tracks from the day before. From the Fortress, Rudi can see the southeast ridge, proving his father was right about the way up. Caught up in the moment, Rudi doesn’t realize a storm is coming until it is too late. He manages to find refuge in a cave cut out of the rock, where he spends the night. He feels connected to his father’s spirit and realizes this is the very place where his father and Stephenson died.

Franz and his party cross paths with Winter and Saxo on their way back from Broli and realize Rudi returned up the mountain alone. Franz and Saxo exchange insults just as Rudi arrives, beaming with excitement. After a great deal of debate, Franz announces that he is climbing the Citadel. Winter convinces him to climb with him and Saxo and to bring Rudi along. They pack enough goods for a three-day climb and leave early the next morning. Before they leave, Teo tells Rudi to always think of what his father would do. Rudi insists on bringing his climbing pole, despite Saxo’s taunting. The climb goes forward without an issue, apart from Winter’s occasional coughing. They spend the night on the shoulder of the mountain.

The next day, their climbing is slower and more technical. Sometimes it takes them hours to advance only a few feet. Saxo and Franz take turns leading the way, both proving their skill. All three men try to cross a particular section known as “the Needle,” but no one can make it past. Rudi convinces them to let him try to climb up through it since he is small. He gets stuck inside but manages to pull himself up and throw a rope down to the others. When they make camp that night, Winter’s cough is worse, despite his insistence that he is all right. After Winter goes to bed, Saxo comes to Franz and Rudi’s tent, proposing that he and Franz summit on their own. Franz is disgusted at the thought of breaking their ethics as guides. In the early morning, Rudi sees that Saxo is gone and follows him. A few hours later, when Franz and Winter wake up, they follow suit.

When Rudi catches up with Saxo, he begs to come along. Saxo’s angry outburst causes a small rockslide, which gets him stuck with a broken arm on the side of the mountain. Rudi leaves his pack to go help Saxo. There is no longer a clear route up that Saxo can navigate with one arm. Despite his insistence that Rudi go summit on his own, Rudi helps him down. When Franz and Winter find Rudi’s pack, they fear the worst but climb on, carrying Rudi’s staff and the red shirt with them. Rudi grows increasingly exhausted from dragging Saxo and collapses in the snow. He sees Winter and Franz approach the summit and doesn’t cry out, knowing that they would turn back if they heard him. They meet him back at camp, and the four climbers all descend together.

Back in Kurtal, the villagers are ecstatic to welcome the climbers. When Rudi looks up at the mountain, he sees that Franz and Winter fulfilled his dream: His father’s shirt flies from his hiking pole at the top. Rudi and his mother share a moment together before he returns to the hotel to help Teo with dishes.