BFGoodrich Treasure Hunt

[presa]

Hi Almosters!

We had a great event this Friday afternoon.

There were around 50 cars, around 30 newbies, 15 intermediates and a few advance and Marshalls.

The idea was similiar to Egg in the Basket, go from point to point, using GPS navigation by yourself, but in a much larger area in the back of Al Qudra.

There were 6 points for newbies, 2 more for intermediates and advanced drivers.

After it we had a treasure hunt... the crew hides on the ground some treasuries... being the highest prize a set of 4 BFG tires.

Congrats for [mention]Loca[/mention] for find the big prize and [mention]thiagomachado[/mention] for taking it home!

Hoping to see you all next weekend.

[Loca]

Dear Almosters,

Almost 4x4 Treasure Hunt was really a great event.

First thought goes to the Crew and to everybody in the Club who contributed to arrange and conduct this event. I can hardly believe how many things they had to consider, organize and coordinate in order to make the full experience safe, successful and fully enjoyable to all the participants thumbsup

Second though goes to the learning experience I had, in the driving skills and at personal level.

I really couldn't wait attending this event. I know by experience how great are events where all categories from Newbies up to Marshals and Founders are getting together. It's like Family get together in love

My start of the Treasure Hunt was a disaster .. beaten I spent big time loading the GPS points into my navigation tool (Smartphone application called ViewRanger) and I couldn't understand why the points did not make any sense in the map. For long time I kept on driving and stopping to check the coordinates with no luck. At some point in time after about 45' like this I managed to find the first Check Point in my list (Check Point 4). The point was in the direction but not in the exact position indicated my my GPS ... wtfsmilie this did ring a bell in my head and I realized my big mistake: I had loaded the GPS coordinates in the wrong scale thus the points had no sense omg After I corrected my mistake the rest of the navigation was smooth and I managed to reach all the Check Points with no issues. I liked the confidence I had with driving alone as I knew our Marshals (and Founders) were ready to reach every participant in case of troubles thumbsup

Due to the time wasted to understand how to use my GPS I think I was among the last contenders to complete the hunt. When I completed all the check points and I reached the Treasure area there were no less than 40 contenders digging ... the area was messed up by deep holes pretty much everywhere.
I know I cannot count too much on my muscles :mrgreen: therefore I had to use a different strategy. Careful listening to the specs is a skill I use in my everyday business life with Clients. I did the same here: I carefully listened to the indications provided by [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] and I narrowed the area to dig. Second I noticed that in this area there was a spot where [mention]Nabil[/mention] was standing that was still untouched. When Nabil stopped digging I started to dig in that place and after some work I felt the sound of my shovel hitting the wood box grin
Silence landed in the area, everybody stopped digging and came near to watch me opening the box and unfolding the paper where the name of our Sponsor BFGoodrich was announcing the big prize ... and here came the moment: everybody was happy and congratulating me for the achievement. Nobody was frustrated or disappointed for me being so lucky to win again the big prize only 2 months after the Anniversary. This was the trigger and the decision was quick and easy: I had experienced the joy of this achievement, someone else in Almost 4x4 Family should have experienced the same have a nice day

Rest of the event was great party time with a lot of chit chat with all the Almosters

Last to mention, the selfie I took with our Sponsor BFGoodrich was really a nice picture and I'll keep it, together with the overall experience in my memories for long time in love

Dear Almosters, looking forward to meeting you soon in the sand

[Scorpio]

Hello All,

Finally the wait was over and we enjoyed the BFGoodrich Treasure Hunt event thumbsup .

Although I was competing but attended the event with the family. My family has made it a point that they attend all the events of almost4x4 even though they stopped coming with me on drives due to motion sickness. It was a great event, well prepared and organized.

The event started when [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] provided the briefing about the game rules and shared the gps coordinates with all. Newbies were to go to 6 points, Intermediates were to go to 2 extra points in addition to those six and Advance also had to go to their 2 additional points in addition to first six points. Following the briefing, I first dropped the family at the sitting area and decided to go to the Advance points 1 & 2 to start with. As expected, those were probably the farthest points amongst all. After touching those two points, when I was returning I came across with an Inter point and thought to take a selfie with that too but realized it is not required for the game so continued forward to one of the newbie point.

When I reached to that point, I was told by [mention]hamzahng[/mention] that I need the paper which I was not carrying and only had the picture of it wtfsmilie . Out of some misunderstanding that Inters and Advance to take the pic of the GPS points I took the pic of all the newbie points and also of the Advance points but I should have collected the paper of newbie points. Anyways, now I was thinking to call Bu Salem to get the paper first and then to do the newbie points – got an opportunity to drive more :lol: :lol: . When I moved from that point, I saw a Prado guy stuck on the crest and needed some help so, I went towards him but he did not want my help as one of his other friend and him were enjoying digging. I knew that my digging point was also not that far so I left from there grin . Before I could have called Bu Salem, I saw [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] and thought that he also might have the paper with him. So, I started to move towards him and found out that he was moving to do a recovery of a newbie so, helped him there and also met with Bu Salem at the recovery area. Rashidjass, towed the car outside under Bu Salem guidance and I was sort of started sweeping. After rescuing the car out to the road, I went back in and decided to go to the family sitting area as it was past 0430 already and as per Bu Salem instructions, we had to move to the treasure area for digging at 0430.

I took out my shovel and had the other small one also, the BBQ shovel, and me and my kids dug to the best of our strength and guessing but, I think it was not our lucky day :roll: . But we all enjoyed and had fun. Congrats to all the lucky people who dug out the treasure boxes and all those who won in the raffle. Special thanks to @Loca – we are a strong family yuush thumbsup

I stayed till 0800 in the evening I think and then it got windy and the family decided to go back home. It was a perfect day spent in the desert with my 1st and 2nd family.

Hope to see you guys soon in the sand in Liwa on the coming weekend… arr.

Cheers 8-)

[Phoenix]

This was a more so special event for as I had never driven in any solo driving events before. We went through the briefing, took our papers and were told to save the coordinates and line up beside [mention]mohannad[/mention]. Instead of saving the coordinates I first drove to line up next to mohannad and then started typing the coordinates in but soon realised that POINT 3 and POINT 5 were showing up on the map only 10 or 12 meters apart wtfsmilie . Just then [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] stopped in front of me and I brought this confusion to his and Mohannad’s attention, right away [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] was radioed in and all was taken care of in minutes.

I kept saying to myself “it’s not a race, it’s not a race, it’s not a race”, when the drive started there was a cloud of dust as everyone bolted towards their checkpoints. While me, blue Klaus and a few others made a sslow start in order to get away from all the rush. The one and only thing I was sscared about was the fact that there was no convoy, so before making a crest I had to be sure there is no one coming from the other side. For this specific reason I was trying to not follow any tracks. While trying to avoid tracks and just enjoy the drive in a sslow and peaceful speed I was lucky to see gazelles on two different occasions. At one point I just caught a glimpse of it as the gazelle flashed across and disappeared on the other side of the dune but on the second occasion I went over a dune only to find a bush a few meters away from me and just then another gazelle shot up from behind the bush and ran away.

After this we parted ways and I continued with the drive, after reaching The Wise Man’s point I started driving towards the digging point and got crested on a 4 or 5 meter dune (yes that’s embarrassing) but as always I was being extra careful specially by the end of the drive. It’s always said that the beginning and the end of the drive is always the most crucial as most drivers start to let their guard down. So I was a bit over cautious and got crested, as soon as I started to shovel myself out [mention]Barish[/mention] drove by and recovered me. He left and when I went to the rear of my car to put the rope back into the boot I saw that the rear bumper had come off. I started to fix the bumper and just then [mention]giorgio[/mention] drove up to me and looked at the situation and told me to throw the bumper in the boot and then he took care of the problem with a few zip ties, The Wise One knows best.

Lastly by the time we reached the digging area I just sat on the sides and watched all members turn the ground upside down for the treasure.

It was another successful and fun event for all. HUGE thanks to all the crew members for organizing the event, as always you all have out done yourselves !!!
Until next time, see you all in the sand.

[AbdulRahman]

"the early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese"

I was really looking forward to this drive , so much that i did my offroad check a day earlier to make sure i dont forget anything including multiple selotapes scattered around the car , i have planned and accounted for everything (or so i thought)

with the GPS coordinates sorted out and my shovel next to me we were off to a quick start , my focus was on speed and making sure i do not get stuck , managed to cover the first couple of points quickly and then slowed down approaching a crest when i saw a flag and ended up crested , 5 mins of digging got me wondering how will i finish this and then [mention]Isfand[/mention] came in flying ; recovered me and blasted off

I was the first to arrive at the treasure area and was puzzled with what to do next , i started digging to find [mention]Isfand[/mention] arriving followed by [mention]thiago[/mention] and [mention]rubikhan90[/mention] , i remember telling the guys 30 mins later that this must be a practical joke by the marshals and there's nothing in the sand , i quit digging an hour later after [mention]Isfand[/mention] found the wireless speaker "visual aid below"

this goes to the prove it ; the early bird gets the worm (the speaker) but the second mouse gets the cheese(the tires) , being fast isn't always the answer :)

great shout-out to the organizers for putting together such a great event ,thanks to [mention]Isfand[/mention] for watching out for me , it was really surprising to see you come in seconds after i did to point 6 after having covered two intermediate points , you would have finished first if not for my recovery thumbsup

[alshamsi_m]

[nabil_k]

Hello Everyone,

It was wonderful Friday to meet most of Almosters , in very nice weather for Treasure Hunting , after the briefing from [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] we gathered with show waiting the count down and GO alert from [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] , it was nice moment that we start all together in one time to start navigation for 6 points with 2 extra for intermediate and advance in a limited time , after getting these points they will give us the treasure coordinate point in which we have to start the excavation and search for boxes hide 70 cm deep in a circle of 6 mtr. radius OSMILEY .
At the last the organizers give us some hints and night video how they hide the treasure boxes , i was excavate at the same place but wasn't lucky enough to get the treasure actually i was putting one of my foot over the box and excavate near in 10 cm. have a nice day , i feel tired and the sand start drop back fill what i excavate. I came up and then [mention]Loca[/mention] take my place to be lucky and win the treasure gangs .
The game was very well organized , thanks to everyone that did and support the work for this game .

[alshamsi_m]

Hello Everyone,


I was excavate at the same place but wasn't lucky enough to get the treasure actually i was putting one of my foot over the box and excavate near in 10 cm. have a nice day , i feel tired and the sand start drop back fill what i excavate. I came up and then @Loca take my place to be lucky and win the treasure gangs .

This is the best lesson you gave us ...
NEVER GIVE UP !!!

[Petr]

I'm sorry for the late report, I had one of those crazy weeks. A lot has been said above. We had a lot of fun. I'd like to add just one note.

I always admire the effort and dedication the club crew gives to us members. The endless meeting hours, preparation in the desert, getting the sponsor aligned, purchasing the presents, and much more - even digging the holes in the desert the night before. All of that doing as volunteers with the pure aim to let us enjoy the day and have smile on our faces.

The spirit, and warm welcoming attitude to both old members and any newcomer makes this club really special and I am grateful for every moment with you guys.

And thank you for the 500 AED voucher from the raffle - it contributed to my new camera with a propel lense, so look forward to better pictures from our next drives!

[blue_Klaus]

All said above - great event. And looking at my tracks a bit later ... not too bad, I guess (see attached - my routing was: P1, P4, P2, P3, P5). Even I took it slowly, enjoying the drive, in one situation I got stuck sideways one a dune, afraid to roll over if I leave the car in order to decide the best way out. Alshamsi and Solmaz both came to support - thanks a lot.
Cheers and see you hopefully soon - Klaus