Hunting high and low III

[Ely]

Salut Almosters !

Hunting high and low III was a drive dedicated to the fresh newbies who recently received their first star . We could read the excitement on their face!

@Solmaz who was the drive organizer, was leading the briefing, talking about the area (Al Faqah) and explaining what would be the skill focus.
We ended up being split into 2 convoys, I found myself in the lady’s convoy led by Solmaz it’s not often that you can find 5 ladies driving alongside in Almost4x4.

Overall the drive was smooth, we had a double pop out, which allowed the newbies to use their tools and see the steps to fix a pop out, couple of second trials as they were training on straight crest. And as much as we can be shy about it second trials are good ! We do that a lot in the next level too , that goes along with getting stuck. Better to « put our egos aside in the desert to stay alive and keep our cars in good conditions » . (This sentence is not from me, I am just repeating what I have heard before from our marshals).

On that note, thank you to the marshals for their endless support, and to the support team (aka MGhoneim &Vika), Carlos for his wise instructions, Moustafa for his delicious and refreshing watermelon !

See you all on the sand somedays… if I catch registrations

Kisses to my ladies
Bisous

[CARLOSS]

Hi everyone!

Long time I don’t follow too much -5 drives, shame on me!, but I have decided to actively support this new batch and off I went along with some eager newbies in their first official drive!

And being @Solmaz the organizer, I could not resist myself to get registered as it is always a pleasure being led by her or supporting her convoys. For the new members, she is Almost's Wonder Woman

I took care of the convoy from the back, sweeping and entertaining the scenery, witnessing master @alshamsi_m getting the full convoy under control on his own with a bit of assistance from my end. Fellow interm did also a good job keeping newbies in the right track, connecting the convoy and providing good advice.

We got started from Al Faqa, the part within AD territory, and we finish on the same road we normally use for the afternoon drives when challenging Faqa from Dubai’s area. Last time I drove in this area it was more than one (maybe two) year ago and as expected, it has turned quite green lately

Solmaz designed and executed a perfect drive for our dear newbies to practise safari style with flat areas, small climbs, drops and arches. The “greatest hit” of the day was a nice straight climb with multiples second tries and stuck cars on the top of the dune that became completely flat after that. It was good fun and exercise for me, no need to workouts in two days.

We finished with everybody happy, sound and safe, and all cars in good condition.

I can’t wait for the next challenge!
See you soon.
Carlos

[brett]

Dear Almosters
Hunting High & Low was a drive set in the Al Faqa area, arranged by our leading lady @Solmaz for the New Members after their CM drive last week and receiving their first star.
Due to the eagerness of the current 10- batch, together with the support of our marshals a 2nd convoy also opened up.
I was positioned in the 10- convoy to be led by @presa – it is several months since I had the opportunity to meet with @presa – what a transformation I almost didn’t recognise him, fitness and discipline can make amazing physical transformations (for the better).
I put my hand up to be the sweeper, the convoy had plenty of support with @Aljamhi positioned mid convoy together with @nidal78 (along with floating for media opportunities) we had advanced support with @Ehab floating around, also ever ready with camera and video to record the drive for prosperity. And all under the watchful eye of our floating marshal @Agalon in his go anywhere trusty Jeep.
The area now days is full of vegetation making for a bumpy ride, but right from the start @presa found some areas with very challenging soft sand that caught a number of drivers off guard with in the first 2min, we had some crested cars/trucks ! and even stucks in flat areas due to the softness. Ofcourse, another factor was incorrect tire deflation with the drivers starting out with pressure far to high for the sand conditions.
As mentioned @Aljamhi was keep extremely busy dislodging stuck cars/trucks from crests, I managed to lend a hand for one recovery to take a little pressure off him and his poor FJ, those F150 Raptors are heavy beasts to pull from a crest.
@Ehab , @nidal78 and @Agalon were kept equally busy helping drivers to correct their tire pressure and giving advice and directions on self-recoveries in the soft sand.
So, all in all it was an eventful couple of hours in the sand, we did not manage to cover many Km’s, but it was certainly a learning experience for the Newbies nonetheless.
Take aways from the drive.
- Tire Pressure
- Radio Communication
- Following distance
- Correct approach speed when doing straight crests.
- Listen to the instructions given by the Marshals (and follow them)
- Last but not least – Check your tire pressure again!
See ya all next Saturday as the journey with Almost4x4 continues.

[presa]

Hi Almosters!
Long time I don't lead a convoy in this area, thanks @Solmaz for letting me lead a convoy with @Agalon kept as my backup.
As mentioned before the area is much greener than before, but the soft sands are still there and we had a good time.
Due to tire pressure and not the best crest management, the ratio of stuck/km was near a Friday 13th drive... I would say we had over 25 stucks in a 3h drive, what is a high rate for a 10- group.
To make things worst, there will be drives at areas with softer sand and harder small dunes to navigate...
Many thanks to all support, specially @Aljamhi that worked super hard on several recoveries! @Ehab , @nidal78 and @brett also did their part and assisted the convoy on many rescues.
Unfortunately there are fewer than expected reports, so please take some time and write about how was your experience at this drive.

[Youri]

Hi all!

This was my drive to finally reach the 10+ drives (Finally). After several tough drives this one was the last easy one before having more challenging drives in the new groups.
Several weeks back there was already a drive in the area with 8+ where I got surprised by the soft sands and incorrect throttle control. This time I knew what I was up against so deflated very carefully in several rounds to make sure I had it correct.
Led by the wonderful @presa, I was in the middle of the pack. With the 2 door Jeep the flattened crests after the F150 were a lot easier than last time so did not get stuck myself. @Aljamhi had plenty of rescue training, congrats for all those saves. Seeing @Agalon in the middle of the desert and realizing we work at 200m from each other in the same Joint Venture type was also a big surprise! Again thanks for fixing the Jeep in the earlier drive.

Looking forward to some 10+ newbie drives, where I can learn some more techniques and get even more control of the Jeep.

See you in the sands!

[alshamsi_m]

Hello Everyone

We had a very relaxed drive by @Solmaz to give the new members the feeling of the sand. The second half was let us try to do cresting!!!!

The idea of cresting is not to fly to the other side. It's just to find the right momentum to cross " If the driver pass the car pass " . It is important to mention that getting crested in the dune is better than flying too .

At the of the drive our leader took us to fast exit to say goodbye.

I would thank all the intermediates who showed up to support specially @CARLOSS .

Till next time keep cresting until you master it

Cheers
Shamsi

[Essami123]

dear all

really the drave on that day was vey smooth and nice one , i like the way of the members for helping each members once getting stack .
i got an experience to cross the the high duen without stack .
wish next time we will have a nice and smooth drive . and thanks for that nice day.

[Ehab]

Hi almosters

This drive remind me how important the straight cresting is, i also remember questioning the learning outcome from such a climb in my earlier days, i came to know the value of this only in areas with massive dunes specifically when you reached to a place where the only option is to do a straight crest.

Overall, the convoy did well and with time they will master this type of climb.

Regards

[siddharthsai]

Hi everyone. Got caught up with a lot of work so my Trip report got delayed. But here we go:

This was my second drive with the Almost Team and I can happily say that I have stopped driving with other clubs. Initially when I started I actually had very little guidance on how to start, which clubs to join, what equipment to get etc. But as every other newbie, I met people, read about stuff, read about stuff even more, spoke to people like Shamsi and started going with the flow.

This drive was really from my perspective. We started small and @Solmaz kept increasing the challenge and I could see it as we kept going. I really liked the patience and confidence the whole team had. I mean I have driven with 3 clubs so far and none of them gave me a confidence boost as Almost. I'm not saying this to get in the good books but it's just the truth.

Some challenging places:

1. The place here I had a refusal and had to turn back and take another route as suggested by Shamsi and Solmaz. I was so confident I could do it but the track was already on the verge of collapse when I throttled in. But I learned to not go too hot into something. Maybe I could do the same one today. Haha.

2. The final dune:

The 4x4 ahead of me kept getting refusals and I was literally sweating thinking no way I can do that in one shot. But in the end I could see where the mistake was and I promised myself I wouldn't make the same. And, I cleared it in the first attempt. The watermelon felt like an award after that.


It was also my first time seeing a pop out. So was eager to learn how to fix.

Can't wait for the next one guys.

Thank you.