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Welcome to the Off-Road Hall of Fame, a place where we celebrate the fearless, daring, and ingenious legends of the off-road world. This is the home of the trendsetters who have pushed the limits of off-road driving, supporting, and inspiring all types of adventurers. Off-road driving is not just a hobby, it's a way of life. It requires a rare combination of skill, bravery, and respect for the great outdoors. From conquering the tallest dune to racing through the sands, and wadis to traversing long distances, off-roading comes in various forms that demand unique skills, patience and above all - great teamwork. Only a few have gone above and beyond, leaving their mark on the off-road universe, and inspiring others to follow in their footsteps. These heroes have not just driven off-road but have really defined the true meaning of off-road community while taking the sport to new heights. Whether you are an experienced off-roader or just starting, we invite you to join us as we explore the stories and legacies of the off-road greats who have earned their rightful place in the Off-Road Hall of Fame. This is a place where we take pride in their achievements and honor their spirit of adventure. So, fasten your seatbelts, hold tight, and let's embark on a journey of exhilaration, inspiration, and honor in the Off-Road Hall of Fame. Period: Oct - Dec 2023 Drives in the spotlight This quarter we have been blessed with multiple themed drives to be remembered: 1. Halloween Drive , 29 October 2023 - led by @Ale Vallecchi Newbie - Al Madam - Sharjah - 29 Oct 2023 - Carnity.com 2. 7 Emirates Offroad Drive, December 2nd 2023 - led by @Frederic Overlanding - 7 Emirates - 2 and 3 Dec 2023 - Carnity.com 3. Jingle Jungle Bells Drive, December 23rd 2023 - led by @DP1011 Fewbie - Murquab - Qudra - Dubai - 23 Dec 2023 - Carnity.com Additionally, the DCT event was an epic challenge and adventure, which will definitely be repeated in the future ! Member in the spotlight @Rafey Hashmi might be driving the smallest 4x4 of our club, but he boasts the biggest smile and can-do attitude! In below photo you can see him navigating a dune, while @Gary F is explaining how momentum is being created Lead Champions Congratulations @Davie Chase and @Looper for being our Lead Champions this quarter, with both 13 Leads! Amazing achievement guys! Support Champion Congratulations to @Imran Asghar for being our support champion of this quarter with 6 supported NB/FB drives! Your positive attitude and friendly approach is a true gamechanger for members who are joining us for the first couple of drives. Keep it up ! Message to all our champions: Your dedication is an admirable quality that is truly valued and appreciated. Your unwavering passion for off-roading has not gone unnoticed, and it is an inspiration to those around you today. We thank you and look forward to seeing the many great things you will achieve in the future.

Congratulations Guys! @Ale Vallecchi @Frederic @Davie Chase @Looper @Rafey Hashmi @Gary F @Imran Asghar!! Great Show💥

Congratulations to everyone involved! @Gary F momentum is key when you drive the equivalent of the titanic on the dunes 😂 @Davie Chase brilliant photo mate that’s one for the family album for sure 😂😉

dune surfers! @Gok Krish @Gertjan @Joseph Raju @Salim Akhtar @DP1011 @Jorge Stepniak Felippe @Imran Kashif @Mohit Gurnani @Bashar Beasha @Naveen Raj welcome to another adventure in the speed sculptures safari through the mesmerizing terrain of Al Wagan! The drive is intended to pass through some of the famous bowls and dunes where we will have our fair share of adrenaline rush. please note following 1. Your car is in top notch condition. Make sure you have fixed any known issues and have driven for a few drives after with no breakdowns. 2. You have been on sands driving at IM level. This is for your own safety. I would suggest reconsidering if you have been out of sand for more than 3 months. 3. You are in sync with your car. you understand your car and understand its limitations and strength. 4. carry additional fuel (based on your car tank capacity) as we would be covering close to >120 km. 5. Have necessary gear (including tow rope with 2 soft shackles) and spare Tyre in good condition. 6. No passengers In view of the weather conditions expected on this weekend, the meeting time is now shifted at 8.30 am And ready to drive at 9 am. please do not keep any appointments for the day.

Congrats @Ale Vallecchi @Frederic and @DP1011 for the amazing drive theme. Congrats @Davie Chase and @Looper for cracking the big numbers on the drive count to reflect your passion and true commitment to the club and its off-road family. Well done @Imran Asghar for supporting maximum number of drives to enhance your learning experience. Thank you Fredy, to continue recording all these milestone so we can celebrate the real heroes every quarter.

It was an amazing party guys. Regarding the litter part, It was almost clean when I woke up at around 10 am and whatever remaining litter was there was picked up diligently by @Gaurav Soni and @Tharun Kumar V to leave the place spotless. The area wasn't like a typical desert and had soft and very hard patches mixed around. Good for camping but not for driving Thanks to everyone that made this happen. See you in the sands soon!

Thanks @Ahmed Wagdy yes they are unfortunately building a kind of road over there (that was the location we used the year before, but had to move a bit further down this time). I hope we can keep finding nice spots for NYE the coming years as it seems it's becoming more and more difficult. On a different note, we went to pick up our bonfire plate yesterday and found our spot to be completely clean and free from litter, which was such a nice thing to see. We passed by Townsquare on the way home and found massive amounts of litter people left behind over there unfortunately. I am glad our club and its members know better than that.

Thanks, a lot @Frederic, it was a pleasant NYE, thanks for planning this, i think the location was good, it is not far, didn't need to deflate, yet we were the only ones there and we could see the fireworks, hopefully it will remain the same next year, in the morning i could see some constructions going arround.

this is going to be great fun. I'll start charging all my cameras now 🤩

It was the Best New Year's Eve with great company, music, dance, food, drinks and stories. Many thanks, Fredy for finding such a beautiful place with endless recee to find a track with no deflation. Many thanks, everyone for joining with great spirits and making this get-together so amazing and family-friendly event. Can we have more such gatherings in 2024, pls?

@Vanessa8580@Sreenath G@Ahmed Farouk@Davie Chase@sohinik@GauravSoni@Ahmed Wagdy@Brette@Krishna R@Gaurav@DP1011 Thank you all for joining and making this an unforgettable experience ! Let me know if you liked the location and what we can improve for next year event.

Hi All, thank for you signing up for Friday's - Newbie drive. Please note I have changed the timing from 1 PM - 5 PM to 2 PM - 6 PM now, to accommodate Friday prayer. Please adjust your RSVP (if needed), thank you for your understanding. @Abdullah N @frederic demolder @Rahul6157 @Nizar Shawwa @Renier Venter @Georges Kazan @Usman Basit @sohinik @Guido Ferriani @Sandeep Nayar @Menon

Thanks @Carnity and @Frederic for taking lead on this- Very well planned event, was Fun and great way to start 2024 from where we belong to - The Sands✌️❤️!

While offroading, we cross dunes by using different methods, based on how the dune is formed and what the drive level is. Once you have spent some time in the desert, you will slowly start to pay more attention to the dune formations and how we cross them. Once you reach Intermediate and Advance level, you'll need to start learning how to read these dunes in order to navigate and create your planned routes in the desert. As a rule of thumb, the prevailing wind in UAE is blowing from a North-Western direction to South-East direction from 10AM onwards. At night and in early morning it will be reversed and blow from the South-East to North-West. This is something you should remember and you will notice when you zoom into certain areas with your navigation app (Google Maps, Gaia, MotionX, Mytrails,...) you will notice that the wind from that side has caused the dunes to take on their shape. This is a general rule and will not always apply, as you will see that in certain areas where wind is coming from different directions, you will see for example "star" dunes appearing. There are different types of dunes which are separately described below. As you can see in below picture, a dune is formed when the prevailing wind blows on a mound of sand, where the grain will move into the wind direction and create a ridge. The sand which falls on the other side of the ridge, creates a slipface, and this sand is not compacted by the wind. This is the main reason why we generally drive on the prevailing wind side or the convex side of the dunes on the Newbie level. "A dune is a curiously dynamic creature," wrote Farouk El-Baz in National Geographic. “Once formed, a dune can grow. It can change shape and move with the wind. It can even breed new dunes. Some of these offspring may be carried on the back of the mother dune. Others are born and race downwind, outpacing their parents. [Source: Farouk El-Baz, National Geographic, February 1982] The shape of dunes is affected by things like the strength, direction and consistency of the winds; the consistency and amount of sand; the hardness of the terrain and the amount of vegetation. Below we will describe the most common dunes found in the UAE. Different Dunes Crescent or Barchan Dune This is the most common dune. It forms the shape of a crescent moon when the wind blows from one direction. We generally use the words concave and convex to describe both sides of the dune: * Concave is a shape that curves inwards. * Convex is a shape that curves outwards. Crescent-shaped mounds generally are wider than long. On the concave side you will have the slipface. These dunes form under winds that blow from one direction, and they also are known as barchans. Parabolic Dune A parabolic dune is similar in shape to a barchan, but it is just the opposite. The tips of this dune point into the wind, and its main body migrates with the wind, forming a depression between the tips. Because of this formation, parabolic dunes are also known as blowout dunes. These dunes often occur when vegetation stabilizes sediments and a U-shaped blowout forms between clumps of plants. Example of Parabolic dunes near Faya: https://goo.gl/maps/ob8xu3y8VJJvF6hk8 Longitudinal or "Seif" Dunes They are also often referred to to as "sand ridges" or "seifs". Their length can range from a few meters to many kilometers and their height from a couple meters high to a couple hundred meters high. Wind pushes the sand and forms ridges parallel to the prevailing wind direction with slip faces either side of the crest. Linear dunes are straight or slightly sinuous sand ridges typically much longer than they are wide. They may be more than 160 kilometers long. Linear dunes may occur as isolated ridges, but they generally form sets of parallel ridges separated by miles of sand, gravel, or rocky interdune corridors. Some linear dunes merge to form Y-shaped compound dunes. Many form in bidirectional wind regimes. The long axes of these dunes extend in the resultant direction of sand movement. Barchanoid Dunes These ridges are similar to Barchan dunes. They are connected in long crescentic waves as the sand supply is much greater than that which forms a Barchan Dune. Star Dunes These dunes are formed when there are several prevailing wind directions - there is a complex wind regime. Typically there are three or more slip faces, whilst the dunes do not migrate they grow in height. Star dunes are radially-symmetrical, spyramidal sand mounds with slipfaces on three or more arms that radiate from the high center of the mound. They are created when the winds blow equally from every direction, causing the sand dune to grow many extensions and resemble a star. They are rare and are fairly stable and remain in the same place. Some are landmarks with names. Example of a Star dune: https://goo.gl/maps/jRnYghQc8ACzVz6T7 With this knowledge, the next time you step into the desert, you can start looking at the different dune formations, and this will give you lots of knowledge that you'll be able to apply in the future when leading and navigating off-road drives.

We request every member that joins this drive to go through the below information and strictly follow these guidelines, etiquettes and responsibilities. MUST READ AND COMPLY Environmental Policy Offroad Flag Guideline Two Way Radio Guideline Off road Driving Etiquette's Emergency details for all off-roaders Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities DRIVE DETAILS Level: Fewbie and above When: 7th Jan 2024, Sunday Meeting time: 7:30 AM Start time: 8:00 AM - Sharp (Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GQSUXoepx6mJBYDp8 Approximate finish time: 4.00 PM Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Mandatory off-road gears: Tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, compressor, walkie-talkie radio, off-road flag, shovel, first-aid kit, Tow Rope, 2 Shackles and fire extinguisher. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE This drive is limited to 10 cars only. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you find you are unable to join, so your spot can be taken by others in the waitlist. If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, if an RSVP attendee removes themselves, you will be moved from the waitlist to the RSVP list as an attendee. A convoy list will be sent out the day prior to the drive. Latecomers will be returned back - Without any exceptions. Members without RSVP will be returned back - Without any exceptions. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. Please RSVP on below calendar

Just wanted to give you a massive shout-out for rocking the New Year's Eve party! @FredericYour planning skills are seriously legendary. The night was a blast, thanks to everyone's awesome vibes and celebrations. We all nailed it, and I can't wait for the next one! 🎉✨

@Frederic and @Gaurav firstly thank you for organizing such an amazing NY Eve get together, my first (not my last) with the club, both myself and Tanya had a great evening with fantastic company. The location was perfect, the music excellent and the company second to none. so happy that we left the place spic and span and thanks to @Gaurav Soni and @Tharun Kumar V for the final sweep to ensure it was indeed left as found. It is an absolute honor and privilege to be a part of such a great club. And wow what a great way to bring in 2024 Thanks

Hi to all! Just joined, looking for new contacts in Dubai and new experiences in the desert off-road. I ride 2016 Pajero GLS in stock, just tried couple of times to enter the sand, and it was amazing feeling. Please say hello back if you are active here and ready to chat about desert driving with newbie. And please, could you advise, what kind of effective external deflator for Pajero to buy? Could you advise brand/model? Thank you!

I am sure the evening would be wonderful @Gok Krish Let me see if I can join, at least for the camping part.

True, This is what I'm planning to 😁😁😁😁

@Frederic no Christmas hats ????

Congratulations @Bjoern! Great to have you as part of team ! Jeep Power💥 I have some good contacts who are really good at Polishing shovels

Very much so…

The issue I personally see with these is that the driver uses it when trying to communicate and cannot get close enough to the mic, this results in hardly audible comms that the trip lead or support team, or any other member of the convoy for that matter are not really able to hear what is being said. This can obviously lead to safety issues as we rely on good communication via the radios during the drives. so if you have these mounts please take the radio in hand and use it close to your mouth in order that the comms are audible to all. And as @GauravSoni points out it is all too easy to leave it attached to the mount when you exit the car. I always prefer a breakaway lanyard around my neck.