For seven years, Steve Achelis was ready to put himself into harm's way.

Whether it was the middle of the night during a snowstorm or record-breaking heat in the summer, Achelis was prepared to answer the call for help.

Achelis is the former commander of the Salt Lake County sheriff's Search and Rescue Team. From 2001 to 2008, Achelis responded to about 300 rescues, serving as commander during the final three years of his service.

Avalanches, lost hikers, plane crashes, climbers trapped on the side of a vertical wall, swift water accidents — Achelis and his crew, all volunteers, were the ones who were called to get people out of tricky situations.

In addition to saving lives, he also kept a journal of his rescues. Achelis' new book, "Mountain Responder: When Recreation and Misfortune Collide" looks at some of the search-and-rescue team's most notable call-outs during his watch.

"I think where we really saved someone's life, those stay with you," he said, "as well as the ones we didn't save a life. We fought like hell, and they still didn't make it."

The majority of search-and-rescue calls came during the summer, Achelis said. But the type of rescue almost always varied. Between ATV accidents, bicycle crashes, river rescues and even someone breaking their leg during a family picnic, there was never a particular type of incident that happened more frequently than the others, he said.

One of the rescues that sticks out in his mind was a call on a January night of four people who had fallen 400 feet on the back side of Mount Olympus. Having a helicopter land as close as it could, three search and rescue volunteers, in 5 degree temperatures, hiked and climbed for four hours before rappelling 600 feet to the injured men. The crew spent the night with them until they could be hoisted by a helicopter to safety at daylight.

Another incident Achelis said will stick with him the rest of his life was a woman who fell 20 to 30 feet while hiking. While crews prepared to hoist her out, she dropped out of consciousness. Her pulse and her breathing both stopped. She was "circling the drain of death," as Achelis put it.

But working on her constantly, Achelis and others were able to revive her and she survived.

"There's something rewarding about helping a complete stranger," he said.

But not every call had a happy ending. In some cases, such as avalanches that buried people, the search effort became a recovery operation.

Achelis, already an outdoor enthusiast before joining search and rescue, also worked in ski patrol and was trained as an EMT.