Lorenzo Candelpergher

Drive Brief This drive is the night version of an evergreen classic at Carnity. This time we will make our move at 7:00pm from E102 Sharjah-Khalba Road, on the north end side of Fossil Rock. Departing on time, we should be able to quickly climb the west hill side of the rock, reaching a position high enough to enjoy the sunset at the horizon. We will then continue in the twilight, wandering around the multiple big bowls that populate the area of Mahafiz closer to Pink Rock. As soon as the sky will have become dark blue, we will approach Fossil Rock, climb to the top and descend on the east side, literally diving in the dark. We will then head south, moving across a fascinating area populated by dunes whose evocative names, such as Camel Rock and The Sphinx, will have a whole new sound when seen at feeble light of the waxing crescent moon. We will then slowly head further south, wandering around Faya massive dunes, in search for the ideal place, in an elevated and quiet position, to have a short break, turn-off our lights, and contemplate for a minute the starred sky above us. Our night wandering will slowly take us to the sourthern edge of the area and eventually out to the S153 Mahafiz - Al Faya Road. General Infos This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and and strictly follow these guidelines in order not to jeopardize someone's health, and to ensure we can keep organizing these drives safely. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions 2.0 MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: Ban Post TWO WAY RADIO GUIDELINES Every Off-roader brings his own radio, programmed to the frequencies described in below advice topic. We will not share spare radios or program your radio on the drive. If you need assistance in programming the radio, post a topic on the Carnity website with your questions and we will help you out. Make sure your radio is fully charged. It will be your only way of communication while driving. Before buying, please carefully read below advice so you are informed properly on which model / cost / shops... No radio = No drive. It is an essential tool and you should make sure you bring it on every drive and learn/practice how to use it. SUGGESTED READING: Carnity Two Way Radio Frequencies MUST WATCH: NEWBIE VIDEO BRIEFING Drive Details Level: Fewbie Plus and Above (All Levels) When: 17 June 2021, Thursday. Meeting time: 7:00 PM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: E102 Sharjah - Kalba Road, Khatam Exit - https://goo.gl/maps/jm81jL8cLwADN65R8 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, face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm, willingness to learn and your own compressor for tire inflation. Approximate finish time: 11:00 PM End Point: S153 Mahafiz - Al Faya Road Limited Spots Available: Limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Sunday - 9 AM. If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list. Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. PLEASE RSVP ON THE BELOW CALENDAR EVENT

Dear Desert Wanderers, An off-road drive is always a beautiful way to start the weekend and the effort of waking up in the middle of the night is definitely worth the experience. Today's convoy had a good chance to explore the bright sand dunes of Al Qudra and to have a first taste of what driving off-road with @Carnityentails: beautiful landscape with great views, great fun at the steering wheel (or in the passenger's seat) as the iniital fears and hesitation slowly fade away and the chemistry between drivers and vehicles starts to develop, occasional close encounters with gazelles and oryxes. Thank you @Chaitanya D for the nice track chosen today, which progressively increased the technical difficulties as the drivers gained confidence with the terrain, allowing everyone in the convoy, both the real absolute newbies and the ones who had already some previous experience on the sand, to enjoy the ride always in complete safety and making sure everyone was comfortable with the level at all times. From my privileged position as Center Forward, I had eyes on a good part of the convoy and I think we had very a few interesting learning points today worth mentioning. @Roy Armale, you did very well in 2nd lead, carefully following the Marshal's instructions at all times. You even made it to the top of the long climb that we later decided to skip: as you realized by yourself, momentum is key in such situation; with time all drivers will gain confidence and understand when pushing a bit more is a necessity. Well done! @Clay Neddo, your past off-roading experience, even if in different terrains, was definitely recognizable. You always managed well, with a couple of refusals at tricky spots, all self-recovered, promptly applying instructions from the team. I heard you saying you didn't believe it was possible to get out of one those situations.. You'll discover your Pajero can do way more than you think it capable of! Today, for example, a good takeaway for everyone was that, in a refusal situation, doing a bit of full left - full right steering (which displaces the sand at the sides of your front wheels) can do wonders. @sachin suvarna, it was very clear this wasn't your first time in the sand. You managed your Pathfinder very well, nice and smooth throughout the drive. Kudos! @Simon Ducos, I guess you had experienced some desert off-roading, probably as a passenger, with your father. For the portion of the drive when you were in front of me I could see you handled your Fortuner with confidence. An excellent start. @Haris Javed, yours is a very difficult car to drive off-road: very capable, but not easy, as it it powerful, but big, long and heavy. I have learned off-roading on my Nissan Patrol Y62 as well and I loved it; it will take some practice to learn how to control the fishtailing and how to avoid abusing the great power you have under the hood, while making friends with momentum and gravity. I could already see you were starting to learn how to countersteer when fishtailing (i.e. steering counterintuitively in the direction of your tail when it goes sideways): in a few drives you do this more instinctively and learn how to combine it with a bit of gas to correct the situation better. Then you will start discovering the full potential of your great car. An excellent debut for a true absolute newbie! With @Haris Javed and myself the whole convoy also had the opportunity to learn another important lesson today: if the car behind you is not in your rear view mirror, announce it and hold, otherwise the risk is that whoever follows you, regardless of how experienced he/she may be, may lose his/her way, as it happened with me today, when I chased the wrong tracks not having seen in which direction you had gone while I was helping another car behind to get unstuck. Equally, if a stuck is announced, it means a recovery is required, which will take time: in this case, again, it is advisable to stop on a flat area and wait. @arjumand, your car is a legendary off-roader, greatly respected in the UAE, and is a beauty to see. It will do amazing things with you at the steering wheel very soon, when you will start learning how it behaves on the sand. As with Haris, controlling your fishtailing will be one of your main achievements along with getting to understand how to be gentle on your throttle. You have good A/T tires, which you could probably deflate down to a bit less than 15psi (maybe 12psi, which will allow a larger foot print of the tire and therefore more traction), from which you'll certainly benefit in soft stand, which is where you struggled a bit today. @Vikas Bhatia, I had you in my rear mirror all the time and I appreciated your cautious driving: you kept your own pace whenever you felt you had to slow down a little bit, but you came across the most challenging spots unscathed. Your few stucks and refusals happened at tricky spots, and made you learn three important things: first, momentum is key, as in both occasions you lost it and stopped in a moment of hesitation; second, power is not your friend when having a refusal, as too much spinning will make you dig yourself more in the sand and third, stuck happens and recovers with tugs are absolutely part of the game; if you don't get stuck while learning, it means you ar not challenging yourself enough. Very well done!! Behind Vikas I had little visibility. I guess @Brette@Brette, whose great and experienced support was key at the back, will be able to add more precious comments on @Marwan Haddad and@Roy Dsouza. @hasan hamadeh I guess today you learned that no matter how strong your F150 may be, the desert can be stronger... Hopefully your car's worrying noise will be an easy fix: very well done when driving out your car with limited traction. Another important lesson for the day, especially in tricky situations like the one Hasan faced, when forced to drife in 2WD, is radio communication: listening carefully to instructions and executing manouvers accordingly is key for successful recoveries. Kudos to everyone for an excellent start of your off-roading adventure. I look forward to driving again toghether!

DRIVE REPORT Dear Desert Wanderers, One of the facts about off-roading is that, no matter how well things may have been planned, drives are often happening in their own unpredictable way and with unexpected challenges. But that is one of the reasons why I like off-roading so much, because indeed when facing the unexpected one usually gets to see and live completely new situations and is called to adapt and react quickly to what is happening around. Yesterday's drive was one of those unpredictable drives, but for this exact reason was also a drive that I really loved. Everyone was extraordinarily on time, actually ahead of time, to the extend that we could hit the sand in advance (1st time ever in my drives, and this was already something unexpected..) There was something different in the air: everyone was happy, smiling and joking before departing and it reminded me of the feeling of the day those old times school trips, when everyone was excited by the upcoming "adventure". We moved by 6:57pm and we quickly made our way to the nearest tallest dune in the surroundings of 2nd December Cafeteria. The purpose was to get there just before 7:09pm and to have the chance to watch the sunset, but the horizon was too foggy and the sun unfortunately had faded away with no chance to see the red sky over the red dunes that I was hoping for. We then moved on the west side of Pink Rock, riding for a while along the mid-sized dunes and the rounded ridges alternated with sharp crests, in a short stint aimed at getting everyone progressively acquainted with the reduced light and then the darkness on one side and, on the other site, at checking the convoy's response to tune the drive level accordingly. As the sky became dark blue, we turned back towards Pink Rock, which the convoy easily climbed, enjoying a great view from the top, with a soft, warm wind blowing steadily at over 36°C of temperature. After crossing the pass, we headed along the eastern hillside, reaching the two spines of rocks that emerge from the sand on the south side of Pink Rock, which led us into an area of tall dunes and huge bowls where we started playing as we progressively gained altitude. It was at this point that @PaoloMaraziti, after having tried to resist probably too long, eventually surrendered to his motion sickness and asked the convoy to have a break. We stopped in a large elevated bowl, equally far from Tawi, 2nd December ad Al Badayer, with no easy and immediate way out to flat grounds nor an easy dirt track to exit. Despite the amazing support by everyone (including a pillow) and the fantastic care of everyone in the convoy, as it became evident that Paolo was in no condition not only to continue the drive but also to conduct his own vehicle to the nearest exit, it was decided that @Chaitanya D would take the driver's seat in Paolo's FJ Cruiser and, with a small convoy consisting of @Shaaz Sha, @M.Seidam and myself, to drive down to the lower grounds and from there to 2n December Road through the nearest flat track. On the face of it, it looked like an easy task, but Paolo was feeling so bad that we had to reroute and stop as needed, trying to find the smoothest way down so that our suffering friend could not get worse than he already was. Once we reached the tarmac, we agreed that Paolo would rest for a while to see if he would get well enough to drive or not. We quickly made our way back to the convoy, who had been waiting for quite some time in the bowl. From what I gather, while driving might have been preferable, a stop in the middle of nothing under a sky full of stars was anyway and enjoyable diversion for a short while. As we restarted, we progressively headed south, wandering around two subsequent areas with beautiful huge dunes and large bowls, where we really had fun, climbing as high as we could get and riding on top of as many round ridges we could find. After Paolo texted me that he was OK and safely driving back home, I could fully focus on leading, relieved. Everyone did well: a few (expected) stucks and refusals, largely self-recovered with the great support of @Shaaz Sha as Center Forward and @Chaitanya D as Sweep, who both surely and calmly guided everyone out of trouble. I can't say I saw much of what happened in the back, but I can say that, given the night driving conditions and the technical level of the drive, the convoy did very well last night. I had eyes only on my great second lead, @Thomas Varghese, who had a hard time in finding what was the right distance to keep from my back bumper to allow for enough enough space to compensate my sudden decelerations while figuring out which way to go and to avoid finding himself too far away so as to lose the benefit of seeing my lines and having his way lit up by my lights. A couple of crested situations and a small but deceiving pocket required tugging and winching, but overall Thomas did magnificently. @Russand @Werno followed smoothly in the convoy, as did @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil except for a deflated tire which required a quick air top up. @Shaaz Sha was literally running to support whenever needed: I was amazed by his enthusiasm and energy. I really didn't have a chance to see how @Darren Brooke, @Lakshmi Narasimhan, @Danish Mohammaddid at the back, but from what I gathered while chatting at the exit point, they had their good part of challenges and fun, as did @GauravSoni and @M.Seidam. The latter - on top of the rest - got to enjoy the °night chase run° on our way back from the tarmac back to the convoy after we left Paolo and I pushed a bit, while @Chaitanya D, to whom I'm thankful for the great help, was my passenger. We eventually made our exit at Al Badayer intersection on the E44 Hatta Road by 10:55pm, a good hour later than planned, but, having received unanimous consent to extend the drive a bit more, we all exited with plenty of good memories of the night, above all (surely for me) the good feeling of belonging to a great off-road club, @Carnity, where solidarity, teamwork, patience and understanding are championed, as Paolo's story demonstrated yesterday. We drove approx. 35km (with another 10km to lead Paolo out) with an average moving speed of 16.9km/h (maybe a bit less excluding the detour to the tarmac) with, most notably, an ascent of +315/-280m which tells about how much we climbed and descended throughout the drive. Congratulations to everyone for another great drive and see you soon in the sand, especially @PaoloMaraziti, who has even a doctor's prescription to go off-road!!

Sorry!!! Fixed. No changes. You are in "mistery" position. Ahahah, just kidding. I fixed the convoy list, somehow your line had been canceled by mistake.

Dear Desert Wanderers, this RSVP is now closed. Please find below the convoy order for our drive: @Thomas Varghese, @PaoloMaraziti, @Russ, @Werno, @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil, @Shaaz Sha, @Darren Brooke, @Lakshmi Narasimhan, @Danish Mohammad, @M.Seidam, @Chaitanya D this drive is going fun and relatively easy from a technical point of view, but, being at night, with relatively unusual and more challenging visibility conditions, it will require your full and undivided concentration at every step, so make sure you come well rested and hydrated and that and you don’t have any reason for being distracted. We will be using Carnity Channel 4 (446.08125Mhz). Kindly notice that the meeting point was originally indicated by mistake in Tawi, but it is in fact at 2nd December Cafeteria as per the updated link (which is now correct in both drive post and drive event): https://goo.gl/maps/gki53oHcaxckD8v97 Also be mindful of the fact that, due to the more frequent presence of scorpions and snakes at night, it is highly recommended to wear long trousers and closed shoes. See you later, ready to go (i.e. already, deflated, flagged and briefed) by no later 7:00pm (sharp), so make sure you make it to the meeting point at least by 6:45pm.

2nd December Cafeteria! Thanks for noticing. Will fix it now

Dear @Thomas Varghese, the drive was over, everyone - not just you - exited, except for the Seniors who went back to help for the pop-out and those who were in close proximity who decided to wait as, for them, the drive wasn't over yet. There was nothing irresponsible from your side: on the contrary, as I said, I believe you did the wisest and most appropriate thing and, as a paradox, I would have found it more irresponsible of you, knowing how tired you were at that point (even more so now that I know about your A/C issues), if you had stretched further, to the point where you may have gotten in trouble. @Abu Muhammad was fully supported by @Jeepie, @Tero Vallas, @Rob H and me, way more people than needed to fix a simple pop-out.. There was no need for any extra help. I'm the first one potentially suffering from the heat and dehydration and I know very well that, in my current poor shape, I have limits I shouldn't cross. The overall safety of each drive goes also through the individual driver's judgment of what is their personal limit in these extreme weather conditions so that no additional risks are taken by the entire convoy.

Dear @GauravSoni, @Jack Thomasand @Shaaz Sha, after consulting with @Chaitanya D I am pleased to confirm you have been all admitted to the drive. I'll be adding you to the RSVP. See you tomorrow evening!

Dear @varunmehndiratta, yes, you were correct. I was using a magnetic valve stem remover and a very normal pressure gauge. Here's how the valve remover may look like (they are very easy to find in any off-road shop or on Amazon - just make sure it is magnetic, which is a very important feature so you don't lose forever your valve stem in the sand..): And here's my pressure gauge (you can find it on Amazon). This one I selected it after several trials: very accurate (to 1/10 psi) even at low pressures, very practical as it has a light and back lit display (so you can easily deflate in the dark), very fast to use thanks to the long stem, which makes it easy to have a reading while pressing the gauge against the valve and to do the final fine tuning after you have already inserted the valve stem, by gently pressing the gauge against it for small adjustments. To be clear, any pressure gauge will be capable of measuring the pressure in the absence the valve stem, as long as you press it well enough to let it seal the valve edges. The device above makes this very easy. If you deflate with these tools it will take around 45" per wheel (with your current 32" wheels), but it will take a bit of practice to learn how to do it (I suggest you try a few times at home before doing it in the desert, or you'll very likely find yourself reinflating your tires with your compressor after deflating too much). When I deflate my tires at 9psi, I remove the valve, wait for approx 25", then start checking the pressure until it reaches approx 10 - 9.5psi, then I put the stem back and do the fine tuning by toggling the valve with the gauge itself.

Dear @Thomas Varghese, it was indeed very hot and, as many others in the convoy, you did the right thing to leave. In fact, I was already parked and about to start inflating when I heard about @Abu Muhammad's pop-out 209m away, so went back, but most of the convoy was indeed already out. This is why we start as soon as possible in the morning (currently 15 mins before sunrise and it is key that everyone makes to the meeting point on time) and Leads do their best to exit by not later than 9:15, adjusting the route if needed, but possibly not extending the drive any later.

It's Monday, I fixed the post, thank you. RSVP will be soon open, after thr drive is announced on WhatsApp Group.

Drive Brief The only time when Pink Rock isn't pink at all is... at night, but that doesn't make it any less attractive for those off-roaders who are curious to see how the rock looks like under the feeble light of the waning crescent moon. We will enter the desert at 7:00pm sharp from 2nd November Cafeteria, hopefully making our way to the nearest tall dune in time to enjoy the last glances of the sunset, at 7:08pm. We will then gently move south-west in the twilight, getting progressively accustomed to driving in the dark along the nice, smooth and round ridges that make the west side of Pink Rock so fascinating. As soon as the convoy will be fully accustomed to driving in the dark, we will turn around and head east, to climb the rock itself and descend on its opposite side, a whole new experience when compared with the usual daytime approach. We will drive along the east hillside of the rocky complex to reach its southern extremity. From there, we will continue wandering south, riding one ridge after the other one along an exciting series of convoluted, diversified and fun dunes that will take us in the majestic area Al Badayer area and, should the time allow us, close enough to Big Red to be able to distinguish its shiluette when turning off our lights for a few seconds, after which we will make our exit on E44 Dubai - Hatta Road. General Infos This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and and strictly follow these guidelines in order not to jeopardize someone's health, and to ensure we can keep organizing these drives safely. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions 2.0 MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: Ban Post TWO WAY RADIO GUIDELINES Every Off-roader brings his own radio, programmed to the frequencies described in below advice topic. We will not share spare radios or program your radio on the drive. If you need assistance in programming the radio, post a topic on the Carnity website with your questions and we will help you out. Make sure your radio is fully charged. It will be your only way of communication while driving. Before buying, please carefully read below advice so you are informed properly on which model / cost / shops... No radio = No drive. It is an essential tool and you should make sure you bring it on every drive and learn/practice how to use it. SUGGESTED READING: Carnity Two Way Radio Frequencies MUST WATCH: NEWBIE VIDEO BRIEFING Drive Details Level: Fewbie and Above (All Levels) When: 7 Jun 2021, Monday. Meeting time: 6:45 PM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: 2nd December Cafeteria - https://goo.gl/maps/gki53oHcaxckD8v97 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, face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm, willingness to learn and your own compressor for tire inflation. Approximate finish time: 10:00 PM End Point: E44 Dubai - Hatta Road (Al Badayer area) Limited Spots Available: Limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Monday - 9 AM. If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list. Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. PLEASE RSVP ON THE BELOW CALENDAR EVENT

Dear @Abu Muhammad, dear @varunmehndiratta, I can share my own experience: as you know I've been driving a Nissan Patrol Y62 for over a year in the desert. I made it to @Carnity Expert level driving it and I was honestly very happy about it. Then a very unfortunate distraction made me miss a nasty pocket in a flat area and I fell nose down, smashing the front front bumper and mud fenders (I could anyway complete another 40km in the drive) resulting in a very small bending of the main chassis. Because of this bending the insurance prescribed (and covered, luckily) the full chassis replacement, for which - however - several months would be needed as the part would have to be manufactured in Japan and sent to UAE before replacement. This was happening on Feb 26th, and the outlook is to get the car back in September... Because of these circumstances, I decided to get myself another drive , as I didn't want to stay grounded more than 6 months and given that anyway our 2nd family car (a very old LR4) was meant to be replaced soon I took the chance to get a more off-road oriented car. I opted for a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited (ie LWB), with the intent to put it to the test well enough to decide what to drive from September onwards. Now I've been driving my JLU for 2 full months and taken it to the desert 25 times. Here are my first impressions: - JLU is way easier to drive; very capable, more agile; notably, less prone to fishtailing; despite the smaller engine, the power to weight ratio is similar to the Y62 but traction is slightly better; I seldom used the front diff-lock, but the rear one works better than the Y62 (which would often struggle to engage); I got in trouble on some rocks once and got away unlocking the sway bar; - the Offroad+ mode of the JLU changes the gearbox and engine behavior significantly, giving a very prompt response but, believe it or not, it results in more fuel consumption than the Y62, to the extent that I now tend not to use it unless I need to do extreme stuff; - the driver's comfort in the Y62 remains unmatched: you may be doing an extreme drive, but you still do so from a comfy living room; in particular, the A/C is way better in the Y62; i never sweated inside my Y62, I do every time in the JLU; - visibility is better in the Y62, as windows are bigger; the sense of 'where the car ends' is also better in the Y62, as the bumpers are compact and closer to the body, while the JLU has very prominent bumpers and the external spare wheel; - I seldom get to use the full raw power: 400hp vs 285hp may seem much, but compared to the weight, there isn't honestly a huge difference. What does really make a difference are the 560 Nm of torque (vs the 350Nm) which make the Y62 sustain raw power-driven climbs longer with spinning wheels; Y62 climbs on power (that requires less driver skills), while JLU climbs on agility and goes as far as the driver is capable of (by the way I didn't change the 255/75R17 wheels, which are way lighter than the 285/70R18 ones I had on the Y62). - wheels on JLU are closer to the front rear and bumpers are higher, so attack/depart angles are way better than the Y62 ones; this gives more comfort while riding, which however had been largely achieved by means of cut bumpers and skid plates also with the Y62; it must be said, however that the rear plastic bumper and the mud guards were real a weak point in the Y62; also, the presence of the spare tire under the car was often a serious reason for difficult stucks with the Y62, as the wheel itself becomes an obstacle to moving forward (or backward): having the wheel on the back door as in the JLU is way better; - the tailgate opening upwards in the Y62 is better, as if you park with the car inclined sideways to the left, the laterally hinged door of the JLU simply won't stay open (I'll have to install a door holder of some kind). Beyond this, everything else is emotional, so it boils down to totally subjective and personal feelings. Driving a Y62 at the top of Area 53 gives a sense of achievement that you don't get doing the same with a JLU: it is more difficult, it takes more skills and more guts, as the car is heavier and way more challenging to control; on the other hand, driving a JLU is easier, it allows more time to read the terrain, it is more forgiving of mistakes, it can do more in tight spots or extreme maneuvers, it gets stuck less frequently and, if you lead, it leaves you more time to focus on choosing the best line and checking your navigation. Either you drive a JLU with a bit less effort or you push it to a bit higher level, but if you are in for the most challenging experience as a DRIVER, the Y62 will challenge you more. What will I drive in September? I honestly don't know. My guess is both, depending on the mood of the day!!

DRIVE REPORT Dear Desert Wanderers, It doesn't happen very often to see an Intermediate Drive where all or almost all participants, including Lead and Seniors, get stuck at least once, but if it happens in an Intermediate "Technical Challenge", then it means the drive was up to its title. Al Bataeh area, the most recent addition to @Carnity drive locations, has its own unique character: a totally virgin terrain, where you don't get to see any other convoy and any tracks whatsoever, offering wonderful views across very irregular dunes, with occasional long ridges and recurring high dunes of complex shapes, often terraced at multiple levels, it is at the same time, an amazing place to put the skills of intermediate drivers to the test. Today's drive was intended and indeed proved to be a super technical one. With slip faces oriented in every possible direction and dune geometries constantly varying, there was no chance for any driver to predict what was coming next. Sudden pockets or soft sand patches, very tight maneuvering spaces, steep slopes and multiple passages at higher elevation, made driving in Al Bataeh an extremely difficult exercise. We made our way into the sand at 5:18am and gained a few minutes by doing a radio brief while already on the move. After less than 5 mins into the drive, in a fairly flat area, we had already counted two refusals before sunrise.. I must say I was a bit worried by this start, until I got myself crested 10 mins later, which required some serious shoveling to get me out: it was going to be stucks day! As we moved north east, with the sun most of the time in front of us, we started driving though the characteristic Al Bataeh dunes. As this was meant to be a Technical Challenge Drive, I didn't spare any opportunity to make it a truly challenging drive. Stucks and refusals therefore abounded, but they were mostly resolved with self recoveries except for very few extreme situations. The convoy struggled as it was meant to be, but I believe everyone enjoyed this low paced super-technical drive where you couldn't let go for one second or you'd find yourself crested, stuck in a nasty pocket, digging in a soft sand patch or heading straight into a bush bigger than your car. @Goutam was a very good 2nd lead, generally very careful and responsive to my instructions, even though occasionally a bit too close, which didn't give me the time to advise on the required corrections to my lines. Stuck in a few occasions, he always managed to get out by himself, for the rest he was just perfect! He even tugged me out the 2nd time I got royally crested! @Rizwanm2 followed, doing overall very well, especially considering that, compared with the rest of the convoy, his Intermediate experience was much more limited. A few stucks and refusals were all self recovered and well managed. The ability to negotiate steep climbs with a bit more momentum will come with time and practice. @Thomas Varghese was in his ideal terrain today. His vast off-road driving experience was in full display: skillful and swift in manouvering across those challenging dunes, it was a pleasure to see his XTerra climbing succesfully most of the times. As for everyone else, not all attempts were perfect and a few refusals and stucks were collected also by Thomas, whose excitement for the drive was, however, a great reward for me. @Jeepie was again on the sand after some time off due to some repairs to her car. I was really pleased to have her on the drive, as I was really curious to hear her opinion about Al Bataeh area, which she first explored today. When she shouted on the radio "Beautiful!" I knew she was really enjoying it (maybe a bit less when she had her close encounter with a bush..) @varunmehndiratta was tailing Marjan with great precision. He looked comfortable at all times during the drive and I belive he was the only one today who didn't get stuck. The moment of highest stress was probably when, despite seeing us on the other side at the meeting point next to the roundabout, instead of crossing the road, he drove all the way to the Military Base and came back 15 mins later.. But with for tires being deflated simultaneously by the rest of the team, he was ready in no time. @GauravSoni seemed to have made it the objective of the day to really find out his limits, as he got stuck a few times (requiring to be winched from a nasty pocket, which I would call the stuck of the day) and got both engine and transmission overheating after a demanding self recovery... Not sure if he found his limits, but for sure he got some serious fun: when I approached him, he was smiling from ear to ear, saying this was one of his best drives ever.. @Rob H was in Al Bataeh with me last week and I am very curious to read what he has to say after this double adventure. For sure, managing his beast in such tight spaces, with so little gas and at so low speed was a whole new experience. It seems today he was way more confident than last week with these driving conditions: as far as I recall he was stuck only once, when I had to winch him down from a crest. Well done! @Abu Muhammad was quite right when he said today's supersoft and tricky sand reminded him of our drive in Liwa last year. What was way different was the driver, as Abu has become very experienced with his beast, even in tight and technical terrains like today's. His final pop-out, 200m from the exit point, I'm sure was just the result of a moment of distraction when the drive felt almost over. What shocked me was how much air can be swallowed by those giant tires... The compressor pumped forever until the tire popped! Last but not least at all was @Tero Vallas, a quiet but almost unstoppable off-roader, driving seamlessly his car, the most civilized in the convoy. I felt he particularly enjoyed beeing in sweeping position today, especially when we reached the high grounds during the second stint: the view from there was magnificent as Sweep Tero had the privilege to slow down as he wished to enjoy it a bit more. I recall only one crested stuck, at the very end: again a moment of distraction after 4h of outstanding driving in churned up and super soft sands. Today we were able to complete the intended route to Korfakkhan Road. We would have made it to the exit point on time if we hadn't lined up 2 stucks (to be winched) and 1 pop-out 500m away from the exit point. We drove for 4h 45', of which 1h 18' stopped and 3h 25' moving. Our average moving speed was 13.8km/h, very low for an Intermediate Drive, which tells a lot about the technical difficulty of the day. We covered 47.4km, with an ascent of +188/-182 m. Too bad we ended the drive a bit dispersed, as some of us left and some others went back to help fix Abu Muhammad's pop-out. I look forward to reading in this thread the comments that I couldn't exchange live while inflating. Congratulations to all for a great performance today and special thanks to @Jeepie and @Tero Vallas for their precious support. See you soon in the sand again!

Dear @Rizwanm2, surely a copy paste mistake from my side. Convoy ordering is not affected, thanks for noticing. Dear @Goutam, Meeting time is 5:00am as usual, aiming to start the drive at 5:15am. I guess the calendar got it wrong because I edited the post while I was in France yesterday and it probably switched to the CET time zone. Now it is fixed. Thanks for noticing.

Dear @Dodi Syahdar, this is going to be a very technical drive. It is true that you've driven your Montero before, but you have been mostly driving your F150 Raptor in recent times. As a general rule we would not admit to an IM drive a driver with a new car, and your case is very similar, so I'm afraid you will have to skip this one, as the risk would be that you could find yourself frequently in trouble dealing with a car for which your instinctive responses are not tuned. I hope you understand that this decision is for your own and for the convoy's safety: had it been a Fewbie Drive, you would have been more than welcome. It will be for the next drive!

Dear Desert Wanderers, this RSVP is now closed. Please find below the convoy order for our drive: @Goutam, @Rizwanm2, @Thomas Varghese, @varunmehndiratta, @GauravSoni, @Rob H, @Abu Muhammad and @Tero Vallas, this drive is going to be very demanding from a technical point of view, way more mentally for the drivers than mechanically for the cars despite the high temperatures. It will require your full and undivided concentration at every step, 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) See you tomorrow morning, ready to go (i.e. already caffeinated, deflated, flagged and briefed) by no later 5:15am (sharp), so make sure you make it to the meeting point at least by 5:00am.

Dear @Dodi Syahdar, can you explain? Are you planning to come with someone else's vehicle? Which vehicle is it?

Congratulations @Hisham Masaad, a very well deserved promotion. And welcome to the Carnity Advisors Team!

Dear @Thomas Varghese, just respond to the RSVP, I'll be glad to have you in the Convoy!

Dear Desert Wanderers, Drive level and description updated. RSVP open. Let's see who's in now!

Dear Desert Wanderers, After consulting with the @Carnity Crew, in light of the numerous requests, it was decided to revamp the drive as an Intermediate one. I will be soon updating the description and the RSVP. @Tero Vallas, @Abu Muhammad, @varunmehndiratta, @Rizwanm2, @Dodi Syahdar, @Goutam, @GauravSoni, if still interested you can already respond to the RSVP.

Dear @varunmehndiratta, During last week the new @Carnity ranking system has been rolled out and as a result a new Extreme level (above Intermediate) has been created. At the moment only 9 members have been ranked Exteme. If you scroll up this thread, you'll see I have shared a specific post about the first 9 promotions.

Dear Desert Wanderers, Unfortunately out of the 3 RSVPs received for this drive (still an acceptable number), only @Tero Vallas qualifies at Exteme level, whereas @Abu Muhammad and @varunmehndiratta are still at Intermediate level. Regretfully, the drive has to be cancelled: a new Extreme Drive will be planned for the subsequent weekend.