Adventures of a real-life "Indiana Jones"

The History Channel's hit series “Digging for the Truth,” features the adventures of host Josh Bernstein as he visits some of the most mysterious and remote places on the planet, from Stonehenge to deep in the Amazon jungle.

The book gives readers access to many inside details that viewers never see—everything from food poisoning and spider bites to the logistical challenges of shooting in some of the most remote places on earth.

While shooting the ninth episode, Bernstein and his production team and local guides followed the path the iceman Oetzi climbed to Tisenjoch pass in the Italian Alps only to get caught in a deadly winter storm…

Read an excerpt:
Two hours into the hike, we’ve all created mantras to empower our bodies and distract our minds. Normally, we’d have shot an hour or two of tape by now. We’ve shot maybe five minutes. But the realities of glacier safety have conspired to make it almost impossible for Neil to get a real shot, and Rick can’t direct from way at the back of our dual tethered conga lines. Neil keeps shouting “I need my tripod!” and Alois keeps telling us to stop resting and keep moving. If it didn’t burn my lungs so much just to breathe, I’d laugh.

We decide to go for Plan B—the JoshCam. I offer to carry the DVX camera in my hand and shoot footage of the hike while actually moving. That way, we can at least get some of the scenics from where I am and, if I can manage it, perhaps even a thought or two from me while hiking. With no other options until we get off the glacier and walk freely, I do my best, shooting whatever I can while trying not to fall over myself. Time would prove that decision wise—it would be our only footage of the glacier hike.

Four hours into what was supposed to be a three hour hike, we reach a white pole that means, according to Markus, we’re getting nearer the Oetzi site. This is the summit. Thank God. I’m Exhausted, Neil’s pissed that he hasn’t been able to use the VariCam, and Eric is somehow channeling the strength of Hercules to stay with us.

“Eric,” I say, “the next time we’re in a bar, I will have the prettiest girl in the room give you a beer and a kiss. I swear it.”

NBC VIDEO Meet this real life Indiana Jones Jan. 29: TODAY host Meredith Vieira talks with Josh Bernstein about his show on The History Channel, "Digging for the Truth," and his new book about exploring the world's great mysteries. Today Show Books

Rick, meanwhile is facing a real dilemma—how can he portray this epic adventure we’re having with absolutely no real footage on tape? I have to admit, the views have been spectacular. Truly spectacular.

And then, just as we discuss how long it might take us to reach Oetzi’s site, and how we might recreate some of the glacier hiking elsewhere, Jan tells us that our guides are seriously concerned about the weather. We have to go. Now.

A quick look at the horizon reveals what has Markus and Alois so concerned. Previously hidden below the ridge of the mountains, an early winter storm is clearly making its way toward us. In fact, it looks like in just a few minutes the blue skies over us will disappear. I quickly take off my pack, take a swig of water—mostly frozen now, as the temperature is in the teens—and offer the sandwiches I’ve been hauling all day. They’re mostly frozen too, but anything is better than starving in this cold, and it looks like we have some serious hiking to do.

We pack up our gear, I put the JoshCam back in its case, and we hightail it for the site where Oetzi was found. It’s roughly two p.m. now.

3:20 p.m. We finally reach the marker where Oetzi was found. Actually, the true archaeological site is about 75 yards from this twelve-foot black obelisk—this was put here so the people in the valley below could see it. Jan, Markus, and Alois are talking fiercely in German about the dire straits we’re now in. This is no longer a pleasant hike for some crazy American camera crew. Rick meanwhile is oblivious to the impending storm and is asking Neil to film me, the obelisk, anything.  Eric’s snowshoes have all but disintegrated under the weight of his gear. Walter’s listening to Markus and Alois, wondering what he’s gotten himself into. And Dan, the sound recordist, is apparently listening to the Grateful Dead. He keeps music with him for just such occasions.

Rick’s concern is palpable—he’s  worried that we don’t have enough useable footage, and he’s right, we don’t.  Markus, meanwhile, couldn’t care less about the footage—he’s concerned about our slow pace, the bad weather, and the fact that we still have a long way to go to reach the valley bottom and possible safety. Visibility is dropping quickly, as this the temperature, and soon it’ll be dark out.

The danger of our situation is quite clear to me, and to Markus and Alois. Many a tale of survival and death have started off this way. As a survival instructor, I know that every minute we delay our descent puts us in greater jeopardy. In fact, in sixteen years as a guide, I don’t think I’ve ever been in a situation more life threatening, and that’s a pretty sobering fact. Winter storms kill without pity.

Rick asks if we can shoot a scene.

“Rick, we are not in a position to shoot,” I insist. “We have to get off this mountain.”

He doesn’t get it, so Dan and Neil give it a try. Rick is angry with all of us. No producer or director enjoys it when the crew questions his judgment or counters authority during a shoot. But we’re deferring to a higher authority in this instance: survival. Maybe the severity of winter storms isn’t familiar to Californians.       

Markus renders the point moot. He and Jan have just used a cell phone to call for a rescue helicopter. As our guide, Markus is responsible for our lives, and he’s not taking any more chances.

4:10 p.m. With a chopper en route, we face a new challenge. No helicopter can pluck us off this ridge in the middle of a snowstorm. Markus explains we’ll have to race the lowering clouds down the mountain to a spot below where the chopper can safely land. We devour frozen granola bars, grab a few still photographs of ourselves posting with the marker, and depart.

The next hour is the most perilous part of our day. Running down a mountain is foolhardy in the beset of circumstances. But below Tisenjoch, the mountain’s flank is a steep cliff of sharp rock, loose stones, ice and snow. The nine of us bounce, slide, crawl and jump our way through waist high snow, hoping not to hit too many rocks. Carrying all our camera equipment doesn’t help, but it would be unconscionable to abandon it. Yet.

Excerpted from “Digging for the Truth: One Man's Epic Adventure Exploring the World's Greatest Archaeological Mysteries,” by Josh Bernstein. Copyright © 2006 Josh Bernstein. Excerpted by permission of Gotham Books, a division of Penguin Group. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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