Worst Case Scenario premieres at Franklin Institute

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Getting caught in an avalanche.

Walking across the top of a moving train.

Climbing a wall to escape rising flood waters.

Don't try these challenges at home!

They are all part of the 'Worst Case Scenario Survival Experience', the world premiere of a new exhibit, all starting at the Franklin Institute on Saturday.

"What's great is this is a Philly thought-out, made exhibition, and then it's going to travel throughout the country," exclaimed Larry Dubinski, President and CEO of the Franklin Institute.

A hands-on, minds-on series of challenges provide instructions for what you need to know to survive the unexpected.

You can face your fears in a controlled, fun environment.

The new exhibit is based on an international, best selling survival handbook series created in Philadelphia and published in 1999.

David Borgenicht and Josh Piven, the Philadelphia co-authors of the internationally best-selling 'Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook!' series, explain these are situations you hope you don't encounter, but instructions and expert advice could help build survival skills.

"It's things that people think about, they've seen on television, they worry about. We don't claim to be experts, but we go out, and we find the experts and present the information," explained co- author Josh Piven.

Whether taking a spin at wild animal roulette or needing to keep your wits about you while upside down, curator Geoffrey Curley of Geoffrey M. Curley + Associates emphasized that educational value is behind each obstacle.

"Every different scenario we have here, there's a different science that's a part of it, whether it be the physicality of moving on top of a train, how you grip a wall, what the fluid dynamics are within an avalanche," Curley explained.

Borgenicht told 6abc, "I think the appeal for us when we wrote the book is that we're fans of action heroes- even though we may not be those guys ourselves- it was a way to kind of fantasize that we were, and I think that's the same experience for readers and people who come to the exhibit."

The exhibit runs through April 19th.