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DRIVE REPORT Dear Desert Wanderers, Today's drive was called "The 1km ascent quest": the whole purpose of the drive was in fact to climb as frequently and as high as possible for the whole 4h of the drive with the aim of scoring the highest possible total ascent, ie the total cumulated altitude gain/loss during the drive and to exceed the ideal threshold of 1000m both ways, ie up and down. For this reason the drive was planned to move from one area of big dunes to the next one and to perform, in each area, at least 4 to 5 climbs from various sides to reach the highest elevation in the smoothest way, so that even a 14 cars convoy could make it to the top and so that, for every group of tall dunes, at least 100-150m ascent could be built up. This plan resulted in an incredibly fun, mentally and physically demanding and totally exciting drive where we literally climbed whatever could be climbed in every way possible, making it most of the time to the highest peak, pumping adrenaline for 4 hours in a raw and generating one burst after another of endorphins as we fought our way up and and dopamine as we conquered the very top with amazing views all around. If your hormones were asleep, they certainly woke up today 😂😂😂.. We started quite on time at 5:06am, in the twilight before the sunrise. After a first few minutes to warm up out tires and wake up completely, we tackled straight the big dunes at Area 53, from the north west side. A couple of refusals immediately showed that this wasn't going to be a relaxed and easy drive. After we climbed Area 53 from 3 sides, everyone had tuned to the right mindset for the drive and the fun really began. We moved progressively through 8 different areas of big dunes and every time, no matter what, we made it to the top from all sides. It was really impressive how the convoy handled the big challenges that this type of drive put in front of the drivers. Yes, we had refusals, but very few, and even less stucks, all quickly recovered, except for a nasty one with @Abu Muhammad who had to be winched out from a nasty crest. Area 53 and Al Badayer are always very busy but today we met very few convoys: this is one of the few perks of driving in the hot season (possibly the only one..😅). Nevertheless we had often to fight against churned up sand with multiple tracks from the days before, even though the strong wind of today had done a very good job at polishing most of the dunes, especially on the south west side of the track. @Javier Lucero had a very hard time as my 2nd lead but did extremely well, as today's drive was definitely a step up for him. Even if occasionally his momentum was lost, he always knew when to stop safely while I was making an attempt or having a self-recovery. Well done! @Gok Krish followed with great concentration and an excellent performance as a fairly new Intermediate driver. Today's drive for sure boosted his confidence through the roof. @Mario Cornejo finally found a terrain worth challenging his legendary car. Great performance with a few refusals and a spectacular crested stuck at the very top of Suhail dune, if I'm not wrong. The yellow Jeep Wrangler of @Goutam was never idle today and was very prompt to give it a 2nd attempt whenever the 1st one didn't go through. Today we have several interesting bowls to run around and I could definitely see him flooring the throttle to climb as high as possible to enjoy every full bowl. @Alexander Alcala, with his super upgraded Jeep Wrangler certainly found today the fun he was hoping for when he asked to join the drive, but was also a precious center forward helping the middle part of the convoy to get out of trouble and even towing me down from a crest where I had remained stuck. I couldn't see much of what happened behind but I know for sure that everyone did great. We had a couple of situations with a split convoy, which is a frequent risk in these long and high climbs when someone in the middle has a stuck or a refusal, if those in front are not prompt enough to stop. Too many tracks around make it impossible to understand where the car in front may have gone.. so convoys end up cut in two. Great job by @Rizwanm2 (more and more brave), @varunmehndiratta (I think you could do even better if you deflated more), @Ahab Shamaa (survived to yesterday's Extreme: which of the two was better?), @Shaaz Sha (glad to see your leak was sorted out or that the tape still did its work and great Center Forward today + same question as Ahab). Kudos also to the "big boys" at the back: @Dodi Syahdar (who was craving for a midweek drive while still inflating after today's), @Shehab Alawadhi (who finally completed a full drive in Area 53) and @Abu Muhammad who had the toughest task of all with his beast at the back. Last but not least, our great Sweep @Hisham Masaad, newly promoted (with @Shaaz Sha) to the Advisors Group, who did an awesome job at the back taking good care of the last part of the convoy. As time went by we started to see a few more refusals (after all it isn't easy to endure these levels of drive intensity for so long), but not a single time we had to reroute because of someone struggling. A few minutes before 9am, @Hisham Masaad announced he had lost his power steering, so we planned a our exit a few minutes earlier (we would have probably done just 15-20 mins later as our time was in any case almost over), so we headed straight towards Iftaar Bowl, which was surprisingly empty but, most notably, we climbed from the west side straight up to the top back to back one car after the other with zero hesitations: after all what we had gone trhough, Iftaar Bowl was literally a piece of cake for everyone, including @Hisham MasaadMasaad, who climbed it to the top even without power steering... We then completed the drive with a couple more climbs (we got addicted) and exited in Tawi Ghadaya by 9:15am. We drove 65.9km at an average moving speed of 19km/h. To come up with a proper analysis of our ascent / descent I had to process the track data on line with proper tools and I am glad to say we overshot our target by more than 50% as we hit almost 1600m ascent/descent (with an average climbing speed of 29km/h)!!! Congratulations to everyone for a fantastic team performance and thanks to the Seniors who supported it. See you soon in the sand again!

Was a great drive @Anish S, with the support of @jodha singh shekhawat and @Brette, and our 2L @Chris Wing This was my second time in Big Red, and i gained confidence in tackling the area. The last time i drove here was with @Islam Soliman and i had my share of refusals, and also had an element of fear within me , seeing the high dunes and soft sand, I remember Islam, having to re-route through another approach as i could not get over a ridge after multiple attempts. Thankfully, i was able to experiment with the tiptronic this time with more confidence and timing of shifts Hope Charlie @Zixuan Huang - Charlie fixes his car soon and joins us back next week. Another point worth mentioning as a feedback - i was able to witness and observe , challenging self recoveries by @Brette, not once , but 2 times when he was stuck in a soft sand pocket and at a very awkward angle in one instance. It was absolutely a visual treat seeing the techniques - and with the JGC without a proper diff lock, i presume?? I was so intently watching , that i forgot to take a video which would have been a good reference for posterity!!! On one instance, everyone was sure that some shovelling is required and i saw Anish and Jodha already out with their shovels moving towards Brettes car, but before they could reach, he was out Relive link - https://www.relive.cc/view/v1vjDR5eoJ6 not many photos, as hands were on the wheel for most of the time !!

Thank you very much for a very challenging and amazing drive lead by @Lorenzo Candelpergher and support from @Hisham Masaad@Alexander Alcala@Ahab Shamaa @Shaz Shah @Shehab Alawadhi. Please find moment of recovery from today trip.

...and here is the video I took and it is a bit long, but again, was a great drive. At 13'20" I got crested, lesson learnt for most of the drive: stay on ridge, control throttle 😎 Cheers!

Thanks @Lorenzo Candelpergher for this awesome drive ..been to Area 53 a few times (at least thought so), it's today that i realized the real fun of it... The whole drive was a medley of adrenaline pumping "Highway to the danger zone" while ascents and beautiful and calm "Take my breath away" while descent. The speed, the elegance and energy with which the convoy went through this beautiful terrain full of awesome bowls, high dunes and tall ridges made it undoubtedly one of the best drives i have been on...Iftar bowl literally felt like a baby dune today @Ahab Shamaa what steroids do you feed into your FJ, the roar of your engine following my vehicle really added to fun... sincerely curious is it the muffler effect or have you boosted/tuned the power? Thanks to @Hisham Masaad @Shaz Shah @Alexander Alcala for holding this long convoy togather was surely a challenging task...with no visibility of what's happening on other end of dune..👍 thanks @Ahab Shamaa for continous feedback and much valued advices through the drive. Really appreciate. Hope to see you all soon for another action filled drive..

Amazing drive @Lorenzo Candelpergher, without a doubt everyone had fun and an adrenaline fix that am sure will last all week. I had an amazing time and learnings from those refusals and the spectacular crest 😅. According to my tracking we effectively went beyond the 1000m objective, I can see this a theme for drives aiming for distance as well as climb. Thanks again! Thank you for hosting the drive and thanks to the support team, @Alexander Alcala and @Hisham Masaad, as well as the seniors making sure the convoy continued moving. Everyone it was a pleasure driving with you all. I left a few pictures in the gallery. Have a great week ahead!

Thank you lorenzo for fun and adrenaline filled drive... Of couese it was one of a kind drive... Hope you will do a take 2 for our dear friends who missed the opportunity 😊😊

@Anish S @Brette @jodha singh shekhawat Thanks a lot for the drive, was awesome. First time I was second lead in a fewbie drive and really enjoyed it! Worked hard to match Anish's speed but was so much fun. See you all soon! @Zixuan Huang - CharlieHope the call is fixed and see you soon on a next drive!

I also enjoyed the route and the great driving of u all ..pleasure to watch...managed to get a few clicks, uploaded in the gallery..☺️

@Brette @Chris Wing @Rjducos @Marwan Haddad @Sunil Mathew @Zixuan Huang - Charlie @Nithin Vaidir @Arshad Roojee @darren thompson @Chinthaka Ruwan @jodha singh shekhawat Today, we started the drive from Tawi Nazwa via Pink Rock to Big Red. It was nice to see everybody ready on time to begin the trip. Early morning, required some warm up so we did some small side sloping prior hitting bigger dunes and nice bowls where we got to do criss crossings and some short ridge riding. Unfortunately, for the safety of the driver and the car, we had to exit @Zixuan Huang - Charlie due to technical issue with his car. We did perform some basic troubleshooting which did not work. After exiting Charlie safely on the tarmac, we headed back to the dunes with the rest of the convoy where we tried the play areas on the side of pink rock before climbing the bigger dunes towards big red. One of my favorite terrain that requires full focus and concentration to drive through, where even a second of distraction or hesitation can cause stuck or refusal. After driving non stop for a while, i realised that we all needed a break so that we can refresh to continue the journey better. Seeing that there was not much refusal and stuck, progressively i made the drive more challenging and still all the drivers cope very well. We only had few refusals which was managed swiftly and a stuck where @darren thompson's Truck was crested. Within minutes recoveries were done and we were always on the move. I would like to thank all of you for joining the drive and making it wonderful. I was privileged to have @Brette as my support, @Chris Wing as a flawless second lead and @jodha singh shekhawat as the sweep keeping the convoy together.

Beautiful video @Mario Cornejo, it is so intense that when you start watching it, it's difficult not to continue until the end. And your crested stuck, it was really spectacular: a stuck with a view!

@Lorenzo Candelpergher now I know why it’s called area 53 😄 and definitely this it was a drive that I missed . But this is life you miss one occasion only for the better one to come … so I am kindly asking you when are you planning of the next 2000 meter climb ?😊 even if I take a leave don’t wanna miss that dopamine / adrenaline action climb 🤣 cheers my friend 👍

Thanks @Anish S for another great drive, fantastic route and really enjoyed getting to play on some the big dunes we encountered throughout the drive. thanks @Brette @Chris Wing and @jodha singh shekhawat for all the support during the drive as well as everyone else on the drive.

When I wrote "we literally climbed whatever could be climbed in every way possible" I meant this 😂😂😂...

Good job Chris, we’ll done

Thank you @Foxtrot Oscar for the leading. The scenery was wonderful, the selection of dunes to test our cars was excellent as they allow different trajectories for the different levels and the conclusion was just perfect. Lots of positive energy and encouragement in these drives. It is great to be in the convoy again with @Veedooshee (my role model giving we have the same "underpowered" pajero ) and @Vanessa8580 (Italy-Belgium could be one of the next matches in Euro 2020) Afternoon drive not bad at all..... looking forward to do it again and again!

Thanks @Anish S ; @Brette and @jodha singh shekhawat for the amazing drive, I really enjoyed it Looking forward for the next drive with you

Indeed unforgettable drive by @Lorenzo Candelpergher Thank you as always pleasure to be part of your convoy. Thanks everyone See you soon guys on the sand.

Here some video clips of perfect climbing

DRIVE REPORT This Extreme Drive was one of those you'd never want to end, as it was too good to finish. With a convoy of just 4 cars, quoting @Ahab Shamaa, this sounded more like a private drive than a standard @Carnityone, but it had all the ingredients of the best drives in the club.. We were welcomed at the meeting point by a very strong "bio smell" (let's be politically correct 😂😂). Despite the challenge, we all managed to deflate and flag up and by 5:08am we hit the sand, almost completely in the dark. We quickly made our way to the Maleha Terraces, then climbed up to the Tawi Khatimah, on the east hillside of Pink Rock. From there the morning twilight looked beautiful. After this short warm-up, we started acting as real "Extremists", as @Jorge Stepniak Felippe, calls us, and we tackled full throttle the big bowls and straight climbs of this less known but very nice and challenging small area before crossing the sabkha and heading straight south, getting ready to accelerate to ridicolous speed. It was there where we found an F150 with a family of campers who was stuck at the bottom of a dune. After attempting to help the guy out with some instructions (which he would not follow much) we decided to winch him out so we could quickly get back to our space ships and move again at light speed. Light speed indeed is the proper description of the velocity we were able to sustain flying by Camel Rock, Pink Rock and The Sphynx, until we reached the area Faya. Even if the plan was not to indulge and simply drive through, we couldn't resist doing a few rounds in the bowls around Faya end climbing it from the south side. Just a 5 mins chill was needed before we headed down to the Mahafiz - Al Faya Road, which we bordered until the Mahafiz Roundabout, where we crossed to enter Suwaidan area. It was at this point that @Shaaz Sha found out that an A/C pipe had cracked and tha the had a leakage.lukily a good number of layers of Gorilla Tape was the perfect temporary fix, so we were good to continue. As we moved south we initially stayed on the west side, populated of medium small sized dunes with a lot of annoying bushes. We then moved a bit more to the east side, where we enjoyed a few interesting crests which we rode without slowing down a bit. We then stated approaching the area of 2nd December Cafeteria, but before crossing the road we climbed the big dunes which you typically see from down and never really drive onto. Beautiful! The fun continued on the corresponding dunes on the opposite side, west from Pink Rock. Luckily @Shaaz Sha's taped duct was holding and we enjoyed a fantastic high speed stint to the west of the Rock, where we climbed to the top at the south end side. As the place was busy, we didn't stop and we headed straigjt south towards Al Badayer. We first had a blast around the big bowls south from the two rocky spines at the southern edge of Pink Rock, then we approached and climbed "the next big dune before Big Red" and eventually Big Red itself, where we met @Islam Soliman's FB+ convoy. As there was no place to safely land, we did a fly-by and continued our acrobatic flight climbing Big Red and heading down on the Dubai g Hatta Road, which we crossed at the Al Badayer interchange. We then entered Area 53, and started pin pointing each available group of tall dunes around, furiously climbing to the top, riding long ridges and criss-crossing or breaking crests diving into the unknown on the other side at exhilarating speed. We were really pushing hard and eventually ended up in Suhail Dune with very little fuel left, so - also considering it was 8:40am already - we decided to fly over the dirt road along the fence on the west side of the dune and to head back to Tawi Nazwa for our exit. We eventually landed on the tarmac by 9:10am after driving for 95.6km at an average moving pace of 28.3km in 3h 50' (of 3h 23' moving time) with a total ascent of +1486/-1480m. @Ahab Shamaa, @Shaaz Sha and @Francois Germishuys were perfect jet pilots. I recall only one crested stuck that required a winch recovery but other than that the flight was super smooth and absolute fun. Thank you guys for the Extreme experience, and see you soon again in the sand.

Dear Desert Wanderers, Please find below the convoy order for our drive: @Javier Lucero, @Gok Krish, @Mario Cornejo, @Goutam, @Alexander Alcala, @Rizwanm2, @varunmehndiratta, @Ahab Shamaa, @Wrangeld, @Shaaz Sha, @Dodi Syahdar, @Shehab Alawadhi, @Abu Muhammad, @Hisham Masaad, this drive is going to be very demanding from a technical point of view, both mentally for the drivers and mechanically for the cars. It will require your full and undivided concentration at every step, especially when we will reach elevated positions on steep slopes, so make sure you come well rested and hydrated and that and you don’t have any reason for being distracted. Also, please consider carefully if you wish to bring passengers along with you. We will be using Carnity Channel 4 (446.08125Mhz). The meeting point is confirmed as per original drive post: Al Badayer Exit - E44 Dubai - Hatta Road - https://goo.gl/maps/JkhE9hDwve8mkkU99 See you tomorrow morning, ready to go (i.e. already caffeinated, deflated, flagged and briefed) by no later 5:00am (sharp), so make sure you make it to the meeting point at least by 4:45am.

Drive Report Well aren’t you lot all kinds of fabulous! The convoy was the epitome of a Newbie Drive, with so many members experiencing only their first or second drive at Newbie level , the casual observer would have thought this was a Fewbie convoy! I said we would tackle play area after play area and that’s exactly what we did. We climbed and side sloped our way to Fossil Rock , yes we had a couple of refusals along the way but by goodness this convoy lapped up everything I threw at them, and I definitely raised the bar and took quite a few members out of their comfort zone. @Faraz Mohammad – 10/10 for perseverance! You kept going trying to get the most out of your Pajero , and with some good advice from Vanessa you managed to side slope along the dunes towards the end of the drive. However, even before then you paid attention and controlled your car when you were losing momentum,. Well done. @Super Safari Girl – I know I pushed you, but you should be very pleased with your driving today. You had total control over that car of yours and had a brilliant drive, Are you sure it was only your second drive? 😉 @Savio Fernandes– You handled all the challenges really well today and also had a nice stuck . All part of the learning experience . Well done! @Simon Ducos – great to see you let off the leash and out there on your own! You had an impeccable drive and were always in total control of your vehicle. Great drive! @Jason Grima – a flawless drive from you , it was great to see you handle your car with finesse and not just power, and on your 2nd drive too. Well done! @Paolo Pellegrini – Flawless ! Bravo @Charbel– Flawless and in a new car too! Loving watching your journey! @Alfred Alinazar – Flawless and with the wherewithal to know when to steer down without me having to reach for the walkie talkie! Loved it! @Farook Veettil – My star of the day, amazing to see your progress over the course of one drive, you started off shakily, and a little afraid of the accelerator and then you were on it! Even when you had a refusal you proved that you had learned from the previous one and took control on your own! Keep it up! @Anoop Nair– Flawless ! Man and machine as one! Well done! @Abdul Rafay-S – We waited a looooooooong time for that my friend and you didn’t disappoint! Smashed it! Finesse, control, power….see you at the next level and I will get you stuck ! 😈Mwahahahaha @Pierre de Maigret – Flawless - a super chilled day for you in the soaring heat. Great drive. Many thanks to my support team today , @Ammar Naji continues to not only be an excellent 2nd lead but tackle all challenges with aplomb and even gave me the chance to get a rope out haha. @Veedooshee always on hand to offer advice and anchoring the middle of the convoy and of course @Vanessa8580 for sweeping up at the back and guiding cars who had refusals. Finally thanks again to all of you, for listening to and following instructions, driving so well and maintaining convoy discipline. You made it fun and safe for us all Fossil Rock? Smashed it! Until our next adventure 😎

Thanks to @Kailas and @Goutamand @Gok Krishand @Xavier Treasurer for ferrying us through the beautiful if somewhat overheated Sweihan dunes. A challenging course including both speedy and technical parts with a fair old dose of 'hurry up and wait' while various stucks, refusals and pop outs were expertly dealt with. Great team work on display from the highly polished recovery team featuring @Zedas Thunderbird 2, dispensing jacks and ropes and shovels (and radios) in all directions! Loved the big-ass bowls and it was exciting to see three tonne monsters slipping and sliding on the horizontal as gravity struggled to make them verticals (or roll overs) For me, Sweihan retains it's crown as the best place on earth to drive, I can't wait for the weather and the plague to calm down so more of us can visit it more often. Good drive team.

Wow what an observation ...today was driving at 13/14 psi for most part of the drive, around 2-3 points higher than my usual. After first hour had a drastic drop in pressure on one of the tyres (perhaps a bit lose valve or something don't know), after inflating kept it at 14psi as was concerned that it may drop again... It stayed however meant was driving at higher than usual. And since one was high, didn't deflate others when they went up in course of drive....

Go to google maps Search: nissan spare parts, bmw road Sharjah You will have plenty of shops selling Nissan OEM parts, call them to check whatever parts you want. Stick to OEM Parts from Nissan for critical parts, other non-critical parts these shops can offer up to 40% discount. But do cross check same pricing with Nissan as many times price difference is not that steep, but you are 100% sure of genuine product with original dealer. These shops "claim" to sell genuine parts, but some are selling non-genuine too, so if you buy from them ask three times if its genuine or not, little shake down in tone will reveal the truth.

Thanks @Foxtrot Oscar@Vanessa8580@Veedoosheethe drive was real fun with a lot a play areas. I was very hesitant about afternoon drives at first but seems that now developed a liking for it. Thanks to you the convoy really did well especially towards the second half of the drive as everyone gained confidence. Kudos to all... Looking forward to another one soon.

Thank you so much @Foxtrot Oscar! And thank you to @Veedoosheeand @Vanessa8580 for making this a great drive, can’t wait for next time!

@Foxtrot Oscarmy car made me look more capable than I am 😂 But it was mostly your excellent leadership. I really enjoyed myself and felt very safe. And thank you @Veedooshee for your tips and help with the air compressor.

DRIVE REPORT As soon as the RSVP list was rolling in, I was glad to see that I knew most members already, and was looking forward to meeting new ones as well. It was my first drive in Khatim, and it will defininitely not be the last ! We started around 05:30 and headed out into the dunes, which looked harmless, but a little bit deceiving. The sun was slowly rising and the first hour we had some refusals as all of us were still slowly waking up. Once we past the farm track, the dunes changed into a more technical terrain, but nevertheless it was nice exploring and I was glad to be in the company of a group of Carnitees that were cheerful, positive, and helping each other whenever there was a stuck or refusal. @keyvan yasini as we had driven together before, I knew I could totally rely on you to take the second lead in our convoy. You are a calm mature driver and amazed me again with the perfect balance of finesse and power driving. @Naveen Raj the last time we met, we were taping your front bumper together of your Lexus. You quickly realized in order to have a bit more fun in the sand, a dedicated and reliable desert toy was a good option. The 2008 Pajero with the 3.0 engine is known as being a bit underpowered but as I mentioned it's all about the driver and you totally rocked today, using tiptronic and smart use of momentum brought you everywhere without much hassle. Superb ! @Aravind Sidhardhan brought a Fortuner to the game today, and even a manual gear. Driving a manual gear in the desert requires a bit more practice and getting used to, which is totally normal. You drove very well today ! See you soon again (please bring a flag next time). @Ahmed MATAR always comes to every drive with a big smile, and it's clear you enjoy this morning out. You drove very well today. The ideal balance of giving enough and not too much throttle is something that will come after a few more drives. If you are not sure, its better to give less gas instead of too much gas. Well done ! @Karl Dela Cruz was only on his second drive, and you did really well considering you were towards the back of the convoy. Never feel bad whenever you have a refusal or stuck, we are all here to learn and even the most senior offroaders including myself still get stuck. It's all about the team spirit experience and helping each other out, that's what we are here for. See you soon again ! @Luc Khaldoun decided to do a russian roulette RSVP this week and ended up in my drive 🤣 Just kidding. You really drove amazing today and it was nice meeting you ! My hero at the back today was @Kalahari. It's been a while since we last met and I was extremely happy to see you signing up this week and offering your support. Massive thanks for that. All in all, we shoveled a bit, pulled out a few cars, but came out with a tan and no stress I was very delighted to see the camaraderie amongst you. From stepping out with the shovel, to just have a friendly chat and getting to know each other better. It's the group experience that makes offroading fun, and I will gladly drive with you guys again ! See you soon in the sand !

Amazing summary @M.Seidam!! Indeed it was fun drive. My first night time drive hence got to learn so much about the whole process. I thank the full lead team for their guidance and enthusiasm to coach us- @Srikumar @Jeepie @Vanessa8580. Special thanks to @Rizwanm2 for the tug 😊 Another thing I noticed was the amazing sense of humor this convoy had specially during refusals 😂 I really look forward to learning with this community and improving my skills!! thanks @shu yang, @Max Beloenko, @Senthil Kumar for the amazing company!!