"Hal Clifford, a seasoned veteran of Aspen's rescue team, reveals the behind-the-scenes story of more than a dozen harrowing rescues. He takes us inside the minds of the volunteers; their motivations and their fears as they dangle from helicopters, probe avalanches, and hang off rock faces inching a stretcher-bound hiker out from a gorge: "We were getting banged around a lot. The litter was flying. Scott was exhausted and couldn't hold the litter anymore. We went up a little further and I saw Ray Peritz on the second line. I was like, 'Ray, we need your help. Scott is shot.' Then we started going up toward the scree. They were uphauling fast and I had my radio in a pouch. I'm trying to pull the litter out, but a big root gets her in the side, and she starts screaming. We see it, but they keep pulling and it's impaling her in the side. I can't get to my radio fast enough because I'm trying to pull her out, so I'm screaming for it to stop. . . . Scott can't hold anymore, I'm getting exhausted. . . . Ray's trying to maneuver . . . rocks are dropping on her, we're trying to cover her up, we're getting pelted with rocks." This is just one event in a series of previously untold stories of the men and women who volunteer for mountain rescue." "Clifford takes us through the arduous training and every step of a rescue. The team members wear emergency pagers around the clock; they leave their families and jobs at all hours, in all weather, and in some of the harshest mountain terrain imaginable - seeking injured climbers, lost hikers, and missing planes. Their work is sometimes tedious, sometimes perilous; and sometimes they are the ones who die. Their only reward lies in knowing they saved another life."--BOOK JACKET.