Climb the wall

[alshamsi_m]

Hello Everyone

Here we go again, another drive in Al Baddayer area with climbing all the " Golden Dunes " that is their official name if you don't know all the way to Iftar Bowl.


The weather was so nice and breezy which was perfect for my little car not overheat.

I was trying to keep up the adjustment between let us do it and remember they are newbies and you have to give them the exact dose of fun !!!

By the time we reached the Iftar bowl, it was total chaos there. Dunes Challengers gathered from all over uae to go uphill.

Some of the members were taking selfie with the burned car "2 weeks ago" where others looking for spare parts for their FJs

At sun set , we all had to move back to the road and call it off for the day.

Thanks @Abu Jimmy , @Booy , @presa for the support and @Solmaz & @Agalon for the surpise visit.

Looking forward to see you all in the sand in the EGGS IN BASKET !!!

Cheers

[Tomvanhouten]

Hi All,

The drive started off supernice.....but then disaster!

Engine stalled and a rattling noise was heard, checked some basic stuff but nothing out of the obvious. I decided not to take any chance, so end of drive for me. I was guided out to Al Badayer shops by @presa.
Luckily, we were invited as passengers in his car and Truly grateful, because it turned out to be a great afternoon. Just by being a passenger, you really learn a lot as well.

Naturally, I was kind of envious to all other drivers, which were having fun so much, but that will come again soon (hopefully) for myself :grin:

Thanks Marshalls and support team.

Tom

[presa]

After the morning drive, with our 10- I stay in the area for the 10+ drive.

Arriving 1h earlier at the meeting point I met @Sorin and we went for testing his car for overheaating. With 10min of trial I was unable to overheat it... what made me happy for him.

@alshamsi_m was leading the pack with around 16 cars, until @Tomvanhouten need to stop his driving, but joined me as a passenger with his wife, thank you two for the great company and all the home made cookies :)

The flow was good, with a few second tries, as expected, and a naughty soft sidecrest at the top of a dune, that lead to 3 popouts

After a long time our Marshal @Abu Jimmy for my joy come to drive with us, what makes me believe we should be close to start our camping season!!!

By now everyone is aware of EIG on next week, so prepare yourself, check your tools and watch for the videos from previous editions to get an understanding about the game!

[David]

Badayer to Iftar Bowl.

The Jimmy delivered as promised, yes, it is true, it can do a 360 turn in a shoe box whereas some of us need the width of Sheikh Zayed (both directions) for a 180 turn ... We also found out that the Jimmy can move at great speed (nothing to be with the driver, obviously that powerful 1.3l engine)

Unfortunately Tom had some mechanical issues and had to cut short his drive just as we were starting, good pace, nice angles in the dunes and not many 2nd tries, convoy was moving quite well. Main delay came as unluckily we suffered 3pop outs in the same location, once resolved we moved towards Iftar Bowl, many convoys around the area (busier than MoE at the start of DSF) so we had to reduce speed and tackle the dunes in a different route to what @alshamsi_m had originally in mind.

We finished at Iftar Bowl with a Health & Safety demonstration on what NOT to do, including a very graphic burned FJ to remind us of the risks of desert driving.

Overall a fantastic driving afternoon, main lesson learnt, manage well your distance between cars mainly when approaching the bigger dunes, you need to see what happens ahead but you also need space not to get cut out half way in a difficult position if the car in front of you does not make it.

Finally to thank all the Marshalls, Crew and Support Intermediates that made the drive possible.

Looking forward to the next one, and yes, also to follow Jimmy again on the sand.

[Lenny]

Another awesome Drive in Badayer with full support from our Marshalls & Intermediates

Al Shamsi promised us an exciting drive and as usual he over delivered on his promise with the smallest member of his family.

Keeping the right distance while watching the car in front of you was the vital lesson for this drive.

Its easy to get lost on the high dunes & we got disconnected a few times.

I was 6th car behind Andre but lost my flag early on in the drive (thanks Ammar for picking it up for me) & then moved to the back of the convoy behind Sorin.

We had a few stucks to learn from & Pop outs to fix & due to overheating issues we also got some time to appreciate the beauty of the Badayer desert & chit chat with friends.

The drive ended at Iftar bowl with heavy traffic

As always look forward to the next one

[osman]

Hello Almosters from the fresh look of the portal,

This was one of the greatest drives that I will remember and ......
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It was also one of the drives that I want to forget as well. Why? Because I managed to have a pop out on a crest, then had twins at the same spot. The mistake that I did was the car was not high enough at the sidewall of the bowl, and while turning left, I had to make a slight climb as well. Since the momentum was not enough to complete the action, the front right tyre took a hit on / dug into the soft sand while pushing hard on the accelerator. My action took VIP attention and got @alshamsi_m's and @presa's hand dirty along with @optimus, @butouma and @ammaxterra help. Thank you all!!

[Germain]

Goodday everybody,

This is my debut at writing a TR

I choose to open my TR account after this specific drive coz the urge has never been more compelling to appreciate the experience. Not that I have not enjoyed my previous outings with you lovelies, but too many memorable occasions have gone unacknowledged, and I did not want to let this one pass too.
After “Climbing the Wall” this Friday, I have so much to appreciate, so let me shoot without the urge to punctuate my thought process…

The day was just perfect, not too hot, and the sight of two blue-moon legends got my blood racing – @AbuJimmy, and @BuSalem’s Jimmy.

The sight of a full house of Marshalls kept me thinking that we would be split into multiple convoys, but that was not the case. After roll-call, we were called into file, few positions nominated, the rest allowed to fill in and like an Armada of ships with each position appointed for its strategic strength, sent sailing across the fluid sand.

During the brief, I noted @BuSalem mentioning that the first few positions will have a good chance to hone their skill, and the second half would get to work on their survival skills. My position was at the ides, smack in the center, and I guess that it was a mix of both. I inched my way a couple of positions thro the drive after vehicles started giving way to the stress of the drive, but the adrenalin rush remained as high as could be.

We went thro a couple of technical stops to manage pop outs / engine heating / broken flag / and other issues, and then came my big “Oh fShit” moment.

While climbing one of the crests I lost power for a moment and then broke one of the cardinal sins of off-roading … I fought gravity… and lost !

I came to stall in a precarious spot, banked 45 deg to my side, sitting on the 2 RHS wheels, and thro my passengers window estimated a steep descent of 40-50 feet to the bottom of the dune. I grabbed my radio and squealed “THIS IS ME, AND I HAVE A SUTIATION, I NEED HELP !”. Back boomed a response, “Who is that now?”

In a few seconds, Booy was swift to appear to my left and stalled the convoy, he gave me his instructions of “4LO + diff lock + reverse + steady”, and wow… that saved my ass, BIG TIME !

My passenger @faisal, a first timer on such an adventure, had turned pale white and was gripping something really hard, what he was grabbing so hard I can’t mention here, poor chap

The rest of the drive remained exciting and I quickly overcome the incident, only to smile wide all the way back home, what a lovely day.

Surely missed Kareem, Rooies and Johanna who had signed up but couldn’t make it. Optimus was kind to keep an eye on me when I needed guidance, thanks.

I enjoyed driving behind the good lines that Osman kept, and I hope that I didn’t leave too many droppings for Giovanni as he was close on my heels.

Once again many thanks to BuSalem, another amazing outing under your Captainship, Presa, Agalon and Solmaz for being there to give us the safety we needed, and to Booy for saving my ass.

We are growing, atleast I am, and I can’t but wait for the weekend to do it all once again.

Have a fruitful and safe week ahead Almosters ! Cherio

[Sorin]

Hi guys,

Arrived early at the meeting point and met with @presa and Ammar and they decided to take me on a warm-up (no really, the whole point of it was to heat up my engine) drive to see if the new fans I installed for absolutely no reason and now I regret, would do the job. (They didn’t)

The fun part was driving @presa’s Toyota FJ behind @presa who was driving my car.

It made me love my car even more but hate my dumb decision to mess with it for no reason.

I expected to have overheating issues when we reach the big dunes and that’s exactly what happened... multiple times :grin:

I was stressed most of the drive by this issue that I didn’t get to enjoy it as much as it deserved, it was a great track and in normal circumstances I would have been hyped.

The thing that allowed me to complete the entire drive and not exiting early was the fact that my dear fellow drivers gave me a few good moments when the convoy stopped and allowed my engine to cool down, so I really have to thank anyone who had second tires, stucks or pop-outs, I really couldn’t have made it without you guys
:lol: :lol:
Also a big thanks is due to @presa for moral support and to David for the extra water.

Thankful as well to @alshamsi_m and @AbuJimmy (good to see you again and as always your advice is golden), thank you @Booy and all the guys who supported the drive.

See you guys next weekend (hopefully if I can sort out my car)

[Rathica]

The day started a bit of a scorcher. We were fore warned during the briefing that this drive would be different as it was a challenge between agility (Jimny) versus power (Jeep/FJ).
@alshamsi_m did not waste time. He flew off into the desert with me on his tail. He was determined to put us through our paces with his speedy climbs and tight turns - up down and around we went.

We had engine problems with the driver still having a treat by being taken on by @presa as a passenger. I'm sure the sweet treat provided helped

There were a few stucks in a bowl and a few stop and starts as everyone tried to balance keeping the safety distance while maintaining the momentum on the climbs chasing the swift Jimny. The supporting Marshalls and inters were in full form keeping an eagle eye on everyone guiding drivers on safety.

There were many convoys out playing in our paradise so the 'Monster' Rocket Jimny had to be on double alert as he navigated the dunes and the traffic but we made it to Iftar Bowl.

Iftar Bowl was on fire with each driver trying to outdrive the other up the bowl. There was a full audience with perfect weather. We decided to watch the festivities until it was time to go.

Parting is always a sweet sorrow but we had a promise of the next meeting in EIB
Thank you to all the Marshals and supporting Inters for making this drive fun and memorable.