Pagers go off all over Boulder and programmers, grad students, accountants--men and women from all walks of life--drop what they are doing, grab their rescue gear, and head for the hills. Someone is in deep trouble in the mountains and the members of Rocky Mountain Rescue are ready to save a life. Playing for Real describes what goes through a rescuer's head, from the excitement of the initial ring of the pager to searching for and finding victims. The rescuer will share with you the challenges of stabilizing and preparing a critically injured victim for evacuation--moving the victim to emergency vehicles (sometimes down hundreds of feet of rock wall), and often dealing with death in remote, difficult terrain. Playing for Real is an evocation of the mountain rescue experience, a history of one of the finest mountain rescue groups in the country, and a celebration of 60 years of saving lives in the backcountry. Royalties from the sale of the book go directly to support the continuing operation of Rocky Mountain Rescue.