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Great days keeping up with the Gold Pajero beast to remember indeed. Soon reunion gents? Regards, Mohamad

@Warren Flaysad to hear you will be leaving UAE shortly. Enjoyed driving with you. Always plenty of banter, especially when we had @Mohamad Anwer on the drives who liked to stoke the Pajero /Toyota rivalry!! Your beige (oh... I mean gold! ;)) Pajero is a little weapon. I am sure it will find a good home.

@Warren Flay Sad to know you will not be driving with us anymore. All the best to you and your family.

Installed, thank you

No worries @Albarqawi85 I will add you manually to the event.

Congratulations @Gertjan Enjoy your new level. 👍

COngratulations @Frans M .. 👏

Congratulations @Jessica Lambert Enjoy your new level. 👍

Pleasure to have driven with you last weekend. All the best @Warren Flay

New Zealand sadly... I will truly miss the UAE and all of the wonderful people from all over the world that I have met here and have the honour to call 'friend'

Dear Desertnauts, on my way back to the UAE, I am looking forward to this weekday drive, to keep myself in shape with my desert driving, and to celebrate together a nice end to quite an intense year. As the drive's name suggests, it aims to be an Express drive, from Lisaili to Ganthoot. We will cut an almost straight line through the dunes, keeping the pylon track almost constantly in our sight, off to the right of the planned track. We'll cross a tarmac road once, upon reaching the outskirts of Solar Park, before continuing south to our final destination, chasing the Southern Star. We may encounter some unusual wet weather, but we'll not be deterred by it, and will adapt to any possible rainy spells by managing our convoy distances and speed. I actually have found my few drives in the middle of rainstorms to be truly exhilarating. Also, I am confident that we'll find a nice sunset at the end of our drive. The convoy will line up as follows: @Gertjan in Second Lead @Gregory at #3 @Senthil Kumar at #4 @Gerrit Bus #5 @Mohamad Anwer at the Center position @KAMALIO at #7 @Archibald Jurdi #8 @topgear at #9, and @DP1011 , Deepak wrangler will be Sweeping. We'll pick a suitable radio channel at the starting point. In the meantime, I wish you all a very nice evening and a pleasant Wednesday. See you on Thursday, in time for a speedy 2PM departure.

Thanks Frederick , tried to register , however I got the message that I have reached my maximum allowed trip per the weekend as attached please advice

Congratulations @Jessica Lambert well done and welcome to the new level it’s different than all other levels

Congratulations @Frans Mon the promotion.

Congratulations @Gertjan, Enjoy the new level!!

Congratulations @Tareq Al Turq on the promotion enjoy the new level

Congratulations @Jessica Lamberton the promotion

They were fantastic, quality work on time for a very decent price. They will always be my first choice now., thank you for the recommendation! I mentioned you and made sure they remembered you by showing them a pic of your beast!

Congratulations @Tareq Al Turqon the promotion

Congratulations @Tareq Al Turq well done.

Congratulations @Tareq Al Turq time to tighten your bolts dear friend and spread your wings safer than ever👍

Congratulations @Tareq Al Turq on the promotion enjoy the new level

@Frans M congrats mate - enjoy

@Gertjan well done mate - keep it up! looking forward to driving with you in the near future

@Jessica Lambert congrats dear - keep it up

Congratulations @Jessica Lamberton the promotion Enjoy your new found freedom 😃 how did you get on with Artic trucks ? S

Congratulations @Gertjanon the promotion. Enjoy the new year with your new level.

Congratulations @Frans M on the promotion enjoy the new level well deserved

Congratulations @Frans Mtime, effort, intention, energy, sweat, fuel, oil, tires, front and rear bumpers and snacks have paid off. 😅.

Well done @Gertjan. enjoy the new level.

Congratulations @Jessica Lambert on the onw level

Congratulations @Gertjan enjoy the pace

Congratulations @Frans M on the promotion enjoy

Congrats @Jessica Lambert

Congrats @Gertjan

Congratulations @Jessica Lambert, enjoy the new level🎉🎉🎉

Congratulations @Gertjan, Enjoy the new level🎉🎉🎉

Thankyou Carnity for the opportunity to be in fewbie level and learn more about offroading. Special Thanks to the leads @Gaurav @Hisham Masaad @Islam Soliman @Frederic @Vanessa8580 @Kailas during the newbie drives which allow me to gain the confident and some basic knowledge. Thanks also @Vaibhav and everyone who has been on the manage which I could not mention one by one. Regards.

Congratulations @Jessica Lamberton the promotion

Congratulations @Frans Mon the promotion.

Congratulations @Frans M well done

Different ways of crossing sand dunes Throughout the Carnity Offroad briefings you might have heard the terms "straight up and straight down", "side sloping", or "criss-crossing", and these are basically different techniques that we use in desert for crossing the sand dunes. Each come with its own risks and by learning and understanding the technicalities behind them i hope we can all learn faster and get more confidence in executing them. I hope below tutorial gives a more clear understanding on the subject and we can use it for future reference. 1) Straight Up - Straight Down Carnity Offroad Level: Newbie and Fewbies Description This technique is one of the very first we learn to apply when learning offroading. The trick is to approach the dune straight up with "JUST" enough momentum to make it through, but not too much to damage bumpers or cause a jump. One should always take into account the resistance that the sand offers based on different areas, and even more on different seasons. Most sand dunes have two sides - The windward side, which is the side where the prevailing wind blows on, and can be recognized by the wavy lines of the sand. This is the side where we ride on because the sand is more compacted and firm to drive on. - The slip-face side, this the softer backside (smooth side, no lines) of the dune which is generally not recommended to climb on, but this technique can later be learned as you advance through the off-road levels (slip-face attack). How to tackle It is advisable to start off at the bottom of the dune with applying a decent amount of power, and start letting go of the gas once you have climbed 75% of the dune. By that point the momentum should carry you further, and as soon as the car front wheel touches the crest, leave the gas completely or apply a bit of gentle braking when needed, to let you slide on other side of the dune safely. In fact the perfect technique is finding that right amount of momentum that you don't even need to apply brakes on the other side. Some gentle blips of throttle can help at the top to push you over the edge, as you learn and master this first step. If you run out of momentum going upwards to cross the dune, do not worry or panic, this is called a REFUSAL. Gently reverse and slowly come back in a straight line as you have climbed up. Announce on the radio that you have a refusal. Reverse up far enough so you can take a second attempt but this time with a bit more momentum. Risk Level: Low to medium. Approaching too slow will increase refusal and might cause stuck at the crest. Approaching with excessive speed might damage the bumpers or cause a vehicle to jump. Apply gentle throttle and slowly increase after learning. Take note that every dune is different and each approach will need to be made slightly different in terms of speed. Associated Risks: If you approach the dune too fast, more likely you will cause the bumper damage because your reaction time will be reduced substantially at very high speed. 2) Side-Sloping Carnity Offroad Level: Fewbie and upwards Description This technique is very fun and addictive, but it needs to be executed with a clear mind and a good experience on the behavior of the car. That is the main reason why this technique is only used from Fewbie level onwards. It is very critical to understand how gravity works and as we always says: " DO NOT FIGHT GRAVITY ". this applies to this technique most of all. When you approach a dune that you want to side-slope on, you need to carry enough momentum to get you through. This does not necessarily mean FULL throttle, because that depends on the type of dune. As soon as your car is on an incline, it will have the natural tendency to try to come down. The more momentum you carry, the further you will get. It is extremely important that you do not fight this by going higher up the dune at that point, but to steer down in a smooth way. Braking at this point is also very dangerous. While doing side sloping try to choose smooth path as possible and avoid stepping on rock, bushes or bumps that can bounce you and disturb the whole balance and tip you off or result in dangerous fish-tailing or tire pop-out at high speed. EVERY MOVEMENT OR ACTION YOU DO WHILE SLIDE-SLOPING NEEDS TO BE DONE IN A SMOOTH WAY, SUDDEN BRAKING OR EXTREME STEERING CAN LEAD TO ROLL-OVERS. Best practice: Always visually mark the entry and exit of the dune that you wish to do side sloping on. Stick to the initial plan as far as possible and exit safely. If you are new to this, then watch and observe how others have done before and try to replicate that as much as you can. The best thing to keep in mind is to think about "HALF MOONS" What i mean with that is that you should never make 90° turns during any kinds of these activities, but make smooth half moons during approaching dunes or crossing them. Risk Level: Medium. With proper training and guidance you can eliminate the risk of a roll-over for 95%, but one should always be aware of the risks involved and take all measures possible to minimize these. Keep both hands at the steering wheel and your full attention on the view ahead. Do not get distracted ! Associated Risks: If your vehicle is lifted more than 4 inch of OEM stock height then your 4x4 center of gravity will be less, and this will increase the risk of roll-over or flip by 50%. Same goes for bouncy (non-standard/rated) suspensions. 3) Criss-Crossing Carnity Offroad Level: Fewbie and upwards Description Criss-crossing is the art of riding the ridge of the dune and crossing over to the other side. Also here it is vital to understand that the approach towards the ridge, as well as the crossing over needs to be done in a smooth, half moon way. So basically you approach the dune along the length, you can stay on the ridge for as long as you want, but don't lose momentum at this point, or you will be crested lengthwise in the exact middle. Now the trick is to choose the right point at which you cross towards the other side. This feels scary at the beginning, but soon you will get the hang of it, and cross ridges without panicking at all. Make the criss-cross movement again in a half-moon method as seen below. Below picture shows the right and wrong way to criss-cross a dune. On the left side you will see that the approach is smooth and as soon as you cross over to the other side you gently steer down. Braking at this point is again very dangerous. In the right-side scenario, the angle of approach is very sharp, and during higher speeds this can result in a roll-over. EVERY MOVEMENT OR ACTION YOU DO WHILE CRISS-CROSSING NEEDS TO BE DONE IN A SMOOTH WAY, SUDDEN BRAKING OR EXTREME STEERING CAN LEAD TO ROLL-OVERS. Risk Level: Medium. With proper training and guidance you can eliminate the risk of a roll-over for 95%, but one should always be aware of the risks involved and take all measures possible to minimize these. Keep both hands at the steering wheel and your full attention on the view ahead. Do not get distracted ! Associated Risks: If your vehicle is lifted more then 4 inch of OEM stock height, then your 4x4 center of gravity will be less and this will increase the risk of roll-over or flip by 50%. Same goes for bouncy (non-standard/rated) suspensions. 4) Hill Climbing While this technique is not immediately necessary to cross dunes, climbing a mighty big dune will bring some fun and adrenaline in the equation. At first, you might feel intimidated and not sure if your car can handle this. With the right techniques at hand you can at least make a safe attempt and see how far you can get. This technique can be practiced from Newbie level onwards on small hills, and later you will learn to approach taller dunes from Fewbie level and up. Again it is extremely important to make a smooth "half-moon" circle at the top. If you run out of momentum and come to a standstill, DO NOT attempt to make a turn, but put your car in 4LO, and slowly reverse down the dune while keeping your wheels straight. The low gearing will help you in keeping that slow pace. As you begin to learn this, it's always advisable to make a smaller U-Turn to learn how your car reacts and how your mind reacts when you take the first turn on top of dune. This needs to be done with confidence and without any doubt or fear, so that you don't brake on top and do the complete U-Turn without braking and in a very smooth manner. Practicing on small U-Turn will build your confidence and after 5-10 small U-Turn attempt you can try higher and higher by understanding your vehicle dynamics and limitations. Risk Level: Medium. With proper training and guidance you can eliminate the risk of a roll-over for 95%, but one should always be aware of the risks involved and take all measures possible to minimize these. Keep both hands at the steering wheel and your full attention on the view ahead. Do not get distracted ! Associated Risks: If your vehicle is lifted more than 4 inch above OEM stock height, then your 4x4 center of gravity will be less and this will increase the risk of roll-over or flip by 50%. Same goes for bouncy (non-standard/rated) suspensions. Safety of all offroad enthusiasts is the most important thing. This is an extreme hobby that brings confidence, thrills, and people together as a family. We can only do whatever we can to make all safety instructions clear and concise but in end it's up to the offroader behavior to understand all risk and associated risk involve and enjoy safely. Open for any questions or comments !

@Ale Vallecchi need to remove myself due to other commitments. Enjoy the drive!

@Ale Vallecchi apologies. I need to pull out due to something that came up. Will join you next time.