Lorenzo Candelpergher

Drive Brief After the first successful edition, the "Slip Face of Al Qudra" drive is back. A fast paced, action packed re-visiting of the well known areas of Al Qudra Desert, where the drive level will be pushed to intermediate with lots of opportunities to practice ridge-riding, crest breaking and criss-crossing skills along with frequent dives and occasional climbs on the slip face of high and long range dunes, all mixed with a couple of highly technical small dunes stints. 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 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: Intermediate and Above (All Levels) When: 13 Apr 2021, Friday. Meeting time: 3:45 PM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Sayh al Salm Roundabout - https://goo.gl/maps/6rYD28XzLS8xeHe9A 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: 6:30 PM End Point: Bab Al Shams Limited Spots Available: Limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Tuesday - 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, Amazingly fast responses to this RSVP, which was closed almost instantly after publishing. For the time being, subject to qualifying for Intermediate level, the following attendees are pre-booked for the drive: @AlexPol, @Tariq Carrimjee, @Mario Cornejo, @varunmehndiratta, @Shehab Alawadhi, @Ahab Shamaa, @Jack Thomas, @Tero Vallas, @Jon M. Waitlisted are @GauravSoni, @Jorge Stepniak Felippe and @Francois Germishuys. Have a good week!

Drive Brief The stretch of desert around Lisaili offers infinite possibilities for desert off-roaders, ranging from small, super-technical dunes to long range, almost endless ridges. This drive will offer a taste of all these terrains, alternating more challenging technical stints to faster and more "driven" ones. There is however a specific place, where dunes become so high and so big that they well deserve to be named the "Mighty Lisaili Dunes". A majestic conformation which will be the perfect playground for breath-taking climbs and arduous passages, combined with neverending slideslopes overlooking the sunset. 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: Intermediate and Above (All Levels) When: 17 Apr 2021, Friday. Meeting time: 3:00 PM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Lisaili Fort - https://goo.gl/maps/mUgmV43WURfW5iaB7 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: 7:00 PM End Point: Al Qudra - Solar Park 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

Drive Brief This drive is a classic, but because it is a classic, it never ends being fascinating. From Tawi Nazwa, heading North East, we will drive towards the rising sun, moving gently from small and easy dunes to larger and more challenging ones as we approach Pink Rock. We will then climb the rock itself to appreciate the true meaning of its name, while enjoying the spectacular view from the top. Moving south, we will increase our pace going through an exciting series of convoluted, diversified and fun dunes that will take us in the majestic Big Red, 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: 16 Apr 2021, Friday. Meeting time: 6:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Tawi Nazwa - https://goo.gl/maps/PnUGGLyxkKXzz3NEA 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 AM End Point: E44 Dubai - Hatta Road (Al Badayer area) 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, It hurts a bit to be grounded in Europe for what was meant to be my own drive.. But I'll be in spirit with you. I'm sure @Ale Vallecchi will make it an excellent and entertaing drive today, toghether with @Yousef Alimadadi! Have fun, be safe and learn a bit more at every turn! Ciao!

Dear Desert Wanderers, this RSVP is now closed. Unfortunately, due to the need to extend a business trip in Europe, I won’t be able to lead this drive and @Ale Vallecchi kindly accepted to take over the lead, for which he has my gratitude. Please find below the convoy order: @Humayun Ghias, @Mobeen Anwar, @soumyasaklani, @Pacific, @Ahab Shamaa, @I.M.Shousha إسلام أبوشوشة, @Serafino, @rajeshkumar rathod, @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ, @Ale Vallecchi, @Yousef Alimadadi, this drive is going to be fun but, since many of you are new to Fewbie level, it will also be technically demanding, more mentally for the drivers than mechanically for the cars. It will require your full and undivided concentration at every step, so make sure you come well rested 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 1 (446.00625MHz). Please make it to the meeting point on Saturday afternoon, ready to go (i.e. already deflated and flagged) by no later 3:00pm (sharp).

@VipinShetty, are you still interested in this drive? If not, I'll enroll the next waitlisted, i.e. @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ

Dear @Thomas Varghese, I'm very happy to see you finally made it to intermediate. You, more than others, deserve to be congratulated for the great motivation and commitment which you have put in pursuing your objectives, even when things didn't go the way you had been hoping for and when ambitions had to come to terms with reality. For you, more than others, the Carnity journey has implied a great and positive transformational challenge, and - as @Wrangeld noted - now with the rank now come responsibilities and accountability. I look forward to have you with me in one of my next IM drives!! Have fun!

Dear Desert Wanderers, After just a few mins from publishing the RSVP was full. For the time being @humayun, @Mobeen Anwar, @soumyasaklani, @Pacific, @Ahab Shamaa, @I.M.Shousha إسلام أبوشوشة,@Alphin Aloor, @Serafino, @rajeshkumar rathod are pre-booked for the drive, subject to qualifying for Fewbie level. Waitlisted for 2nd drive are @VipinShetty, @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ, @Ehab

Drive Brief An enjoyable fewbie drive through the less known but most fascinating long range dunes in the south part of Al Qudra. There will be plenty of chances to practice smooth ridge-riding and side sloping, with some breath-taking straight up / straight down crossing of high dunes, all mixed with a couple of a bit more technical smaller dunes stints. 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 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: 10 Apr 2021, Saturday. Meeting time: 3:00 PM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/iwRraT9ePU6Hifbr6 Can be reached through the access at Sayh al Salm Roundabout. 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: 7:00 PM End Point: Bab Al Shams Limited Spots Available: Limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Thursday - 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

@Niki Patel, the car mentioned by @Luca Palanca Falsini is correct. My Y62 will be out of the game for some time due to some repairs with parts that have very, very, very long lead time (ie several months) from Nissan in Japan. Meanwhile, I couldn't stay grounded forever, so I got myself a new drive on the dark side. When the Y62 is back, I'll have to face the dilemma about which car to drive, even though my wife is claiming the Y62 as the family car. See you tomorrow.

Congrats @varunmehndiratta, looking forward to our next drive toghether!

Congratulations @Junaid120120, finally you got there!!

Bravo @Luca Palanca Falsini!!

DRIVE REPORT Dear Desert Wanderers, With 3 dropouts within 24h from the drive (@AlexPol, @N@ved and @Sinol) our convoy had only 9 cars. By 7:15am we were ready to go in a surreal atmosphere due to an unusual grey sky. Not even 10 mins in the drive we had a first serious stuck with @Thomas Varghese, in his first experience ad a 2nd Lead: his X-Terra got trapped in a tricky patch of very soft sand and bushes, to the extent that winching was required. The medium / small technical dunes in Shuwaib are all but simple: with very unpredictable shapes, sudden pockets and sharp crests, they put immediately the convoy under pressure. The high and complex dunes we drove through forced everyone to give their very best, as they require a combination of control, speed, power and determination that are certainly a big step up from normal Fewbie Drives, let alone a good quantity of criss-crossings and very extensive ridge riding and side sloping in and out multiple bowls, a with a very high pace. Overall we crossed 11 areas with such high and demanding dunes and the convoy certainly paid its due toll of stucks and refusals, with my winch called in action other 3 times, as equally tough were the stints with small dunes in between. @Thomas Varghese was a good 2nd lead, following my tail very efficiently and surprisingly well in some of the trickiest and most adventurous moments. A few refusals here and there, well handled overall. @Aus Alzubaidi came through with very good pace and control of his capable car. @Junaid120120 followed impatiently, eager for more dunes, sometimes finding himself a bit to close to the car in front. @Arda Yagcioglu was a reliable center forward, providing precious guidance in numerous occasions with refusals and stucks. For the future, a longer recovery rope will be advisable in order to be able to safely operate also in the extreme conditions like the ones we faced today, where - due to insufficient rope lenght - we opted for winching @Thomas Varghese down from the credit where he had ended up. @varunmehndiratta followed, showing a great improvements from previous drives, even in much more challenging terrains like today's one @Arman had a hard time climbing some of the tallest dunes we attacked today due to the limited power of his Wrangler, but did overall very well. @Ali Abas did was magnificent with his Landcruser: today's drive wasn't certainly easy with such a large beast. At times it may have sounded a bit scary, but it was certainly a great learning experience. @Shamil at the back was a precious sweep. He had a couple of uncomfortable minutes where he was left behind, with his engine not pushing enough to get him through a huge and challenging bowl, while the convoy, unaware of his difficulties, moved away. Luckily someone at the back finally realized that @Shamil was not with us: having reastablished radio contact and understood his position, the convoy backtracked to get hold of him and then restart along our planned route. It was during the rerouting that followed the reconjunction with @Shamil that @Aus Alzubaidi got stuck in a nasty pocket, front and back deep into the sand and the rear right wheel spinning in the air. Once again the winch was in action and we could soon move again. By 11am we had just exited Super Bowl, where we probably indulged a bit too much, giving @Junaid120120 the chance for a frontal attemot after he had already successfully made it to the top, as also @Thomas Varghese and @varunmehndiratta (or was it @Aus Alzubaidi) did. We were ready to hit the sabkha and make our exit, however the convoy asked to continue to Iftaar Bowl, which was in sight right in front of us. As usual, the last minute extensions of the drive proved to be an unfortunate decision. We quickly made it to Iftaar Bowl oy to get held there with @Thomas Varghese's X-Terra showing an engine fault light while stuck in a dangerous position close to the west side ascent to the top of the bowl, where too many irresponsible drivers from other convoys were ignoring the presence of a car clearly in trouble and with an open bonnet. Under @Shamil's experienced guidance, based on his own experience with X-Terra, the battery was disconnected a few times to force a total reset of the computer, which eventually got back to normal only after tugging the car down to the middle of the bowl, on flat area. Having sorted out this last challenge, we gave up any further attempts to climb Iftaar Bowl and we made our exit to Tawi Ghadaya by 11.50am. Overall we drove for 4h 37' of which moving time was 3h 1' (not to bad, considering the number of stucks and refusals). We covered 43.4km and a total ascent / descent of of over 250m, with a moving pace of 4'11"/km. Kudos to the whole convoy, who came out unscathed and hopefully entertained in a very demanding Fewbie+ drive today and thanks to @Arda Yagcioglu and @Shamil for their precious help. See you soon in the sand again!

No problem @Sinol, there will be other occasions. No problem @N@ved, it will be for another time.

Sorry to hear the bad news, @AlexPol. Based on this forfeit, @Francois Germishuys you may join the drive. Kindly let me know if you are still interested.

Dear @Thomas Varghese, I will brief you tomorrow morning. You won't be asked anything more than what a 2nd Lead normally does: small rerouts and holding when required.

It is morning, obviously. The post is now fixed. Thanks for pointing it out, @Thomas Varghese

Dear Desert Wanderers, this RSVP is now closed. Please find below the convoy order: @varunmehndiratta, @N@ved, @Ali Abas, @Arman, @AlexPol, @Sinol, @Arda Yagcioglu, @Thomas Varghese, @Junaid120120, @Aus Alzubaidi, @Shamil, this drive is going to be technically demanding, more mentally for the drivers than mechanically for the cars. It will require your full and undivided concentration at every step, so make sure you come well rested 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 2 (446.03125MHz). See tomorrow morning, ready to go (i.e. already deflated and flagged) by no later 7:00am (sharp).

Dear @Islam Soliman, thank you for informing us. Enjoy the IM drive!