GPS challenge 2024

[Mghoneim]

Hello Almosters,

After the great success for GPS challenge 1st edition, the mastermind @Solmaz put together this great 2nd edition.

As a second place winner in 1st edition, i decided to come back this year aiming for the podium once again even though my team members were not joining.

I joined @Elly and @galindakis initially but due to last minute change of plans, @anton joined us replacing @galindakis.

Aimed to arrive early to the camp , but the earliest I co do was around 10pm . Most members were surprised when they saw me that early to the camp. I enjoyed a little chitchat by the fire then left before midnight to get some rest as it is going to be a long day.

Woke up and got ready for the briefing which was almost identical to the 1st edition briefing with minor changes for hidden points (100m to 200m) and squeeky toys instead of squishy toys.

Our team thirsty camels , we put in the time to strategize before hand , however we went through a couple of unfortunate events starting with network issues and then with @anton ’s car breaking down in the first hour of our drive.

We were lucky to have the car drivable again but by then we lost hope in the toys. We continued to enjoy the game hopping between points and giving every tram member the chance to lead and practice their gps.

We had one only dangerous stuck situation which we had to put down our learning to practice and managed to bring everyone to the finish line on time and with a big smile.


We finished 6th place which is last after the disqualification of two other teams , but we will be back in the third edition for the podium.

Lastly, we can’t thank you enough @Solmaz for puting this great show for the second year and we look forward to edition 3.

@Marshal big thank you to all marshals who supported this event and were look after us in the play ground.

[Moustafa19]

What a great effort @Solmaz

Really I don’t know how long @Solmaz was working to organize that big event with @alshamsi_m
But I am sure it wasn’t easy at all

As I was planning to camp before the event we , I have met @ahmadtodxb in Swihan and drive together to meet @AljamhiB in tha last petrol station before the camp

In the petrol station @AljamhiB surprised us as usual he forgot the BBQ @ home and he has to go and get it back

So we was waiting him in the entrance point and we met @Solmaz and @alshamsi_m also who they secured for us easily entrance to the camp

The sky was full off stars , was like a dream ( on of the best things I have enjoyed)

Team was keep arriving around the fire and we have started the BBQ in cold and beautiful night

Next day morning we have gathering around thefire bit again ( that started by @nidal78

When all are arrived @Solmaz start the briefing so we have noticed how big is the event and the effort spent on it

My lovely team was @LuckeyM and @Enrique , thank you @Enrique for organizing the beautiful t-shirt , and car stickers for our team

We have agreed our strategy before starting and in the first 30 minutes we have collected 3 black flags and one purple

But unfortunately we had accident after that in one of our team cars , so we have called for marshal support and shortly we get the big support as usual from our lovely marshals @Rashidjass @Scorpio and one more Marshal (very sorry forgot the name )

We went back to the base camp and spent time with the organization team before saying good bay and thank you for the amazing day

Congratulations for the winners and all the challengers

Thank you so much @Solmaz @alshamsi_m and all our great marshals for the amazing event

Waiting to see you all soon in the sand

Moustafa Selim

[presa]

Hey Almosters!

Great event organized by our @Solmaz .
Solmaz was already a Marshal in 2016, when I joined the club... her commitment to Almost 4x4 is nothing less than spectacular, being a Lighthouse on a fog day!!

I was the first to arrive, together with Mr @osman , to watch the sunset from the highest dune in 30km! The cold weather was challenging, but the 3 thousand wood packs that arrived were enough to keep us warm, while the good histories were being told by new and old almosters.

Dinner was served with a great bbq that was nothing less than spectacular! According to some Marshals the path to intermediate is lamb chops and kebabs to Marshals and Founders LOL

All teams did great, with a couple events, as expected. I believe the formation of a off-roader passes by exposing our members to challenging situations, without the eyes of Marshals, were we will separate the wheat from chaff. Many came in as chaff, but left as wheat! Well done boys and gals!

Results were great, as expected, but the braveness and self-awareness of joining and completing the challenge is more important than finishing with X or Z points. So KUDOS to all participants!

Lastly was great to see all fellow Marshals and Mr Founder :) and spend some great time with you at desert. Looking forward to next year GPS Challenge!

Ps. Thank you for @ahmadtodxb , @Moustafa19 abd @Aljamhi for the delicious BBQ.

[piotr]

Hello All,
Last year's edition of the GPS Challenge was one of my favourite events with the Club, so I was very very happy to see it come back in the 2024 schedule! Thank you @Solmaz and Marshalls for your time and effort - the organization was spotless, as it was the last time!!

As a team, PDS had some unfinished business from last year (DNF due to a mechanical issue). However the time moves on, and we had to make some changes in the team composition - given the recent departure of @Tomvanhouten from the UAE, and my recent upgrade to the Intermediate level, we were one Newbie short - luckily @CARLOSS was quick to text @Msharhan - and so the new/old team 'PDS strikes back' was formed.

Unfortunately due to personal commitments I was not able to join the night camp, but managed to arrive just in time to catch the morning breakfast :)

Right at 8am the briefing started, and within 20 minutes we were given the precious waypoints. The focus, as always, was on safety, and given our past experiences we decided to play it very safe - slow and steady wins the race, and no 'monkey business' on the way (as I was very quickly reminded by @CARLOSS right after the first attempt to side crest :)) The goal was to finish and have fun. What we did not want to risk with speed and trajectory, we tried to compensate with strategy - we decided to go after the more valuable black/blue/purple points, and use the terrain and shape of dunes to our advantage (satellite view provides great hints as to the flow of dunes, with straight line not always quickest, and direction of travel being crucial, too). We also tried to take frequent breaks and not wait 'until it's too late" with snacks :P). Overall I think the Team did great, with good communication, clearly assigned roles and no "risky" situations on the track.

For me personally this second event was probably more difficult as the first, despite prior knowledge of the game rules and the terrain - leading the convoy to "any difficulty" waypoints and choosing the optimal trajectory requires a lot more attention and focus, and hence is substantially more tiring (here kudos to the incredible skills of Marshalls!!). In particular (as reminded by @presa during the briefing) the hours between 12 and 3 are the most difficult due to the lack of shadows and growing tiredness (experienced this myself barely able to see the shapes and folds of the dunes at some point). The car also took a few more hits than usual due to a few hidden ditches and bushes on the other side of the crest - the risk of leading the group.

Overall we managed to complete the challenge (having travelled more than 130km in 7h (5:30 moving) and crossed the finish line with smiles on our faces 10 minutes before 4 (maybe slightly frustrated by the purple point right next to the camp (if it at all existed) ;) or one hidden point "in a tree" but not really...! - yet again we were reminded of Marshals' creativity in stacking up challenges). We did not really count on a strong result, so we were quite surprised to have ended up as ex-aequo winners!!! :) A little champagne celebration seemed more than appropriate ;)

Once again, the biggest thank you goes to @Solmaz, @alshamsi_m and all the Marshalls investing their time and effort in making this event happen - incredible work!!!

See you all in the sand soon!!!

Piotr

[Martin]

@Solmaz really deserves a medal for the work she puts in to these events. The amount of work that goes into this event by her and the marshalls that spend their own time to make it so fun and challenging is incredible and I am sure that all members really appreciate it, I certainly do.

I attended the first event last year with the Sons of Ditches team and really enjoyed it. We had a great team and our strategy was solid. Something that all teams taking part can learn from though is what happened in the last half an hour. We pushed too hard and went for one more flag and I ended up with a mechanical issue that meant we were disqualified for being late over the finish line.

So this year I had unfinished business.

I initially didn”t think i would attend the event because of other commitments. While doing the Rahal GPS Challenge with @Rathica & @Preggy & with commitments changing we decided to form a team to take what we learned into this challenge.

Unfortunately, the other team members had to back out for their own commitments so I was a free agent looking for a team.

Luckily @mpodroid & @Giovanni were forming a team and had a spare spot. Stickasee was born.

We left Dubai together in Convoy and arrived a little late for the start after overshooting the last fuel stop. We arrived in plenty of time to join the briefing though. The briefing from @Solmaz & @alshamsi_m was clear and explained all of the rules and focussed on the safety measures that all the teams should follow.

We quickly formed a strategy based on what SODs trief last year. We added the first few GPS coordinates into the GPS device and headed off to Flag 7.

@mpodroid was doing a great job finding us an enjoyable, direct and safe route to the flag, Smooth lines, controlled convoy and good radio comms.

Around 700m from the flag I was climbing a small dune and heard a noise from the front driver side. Initially, I thought it was a pop-out and called it into to the team. @Giovanni was first on the scene and as he pulled up his look told me this was not a pop out and his words confirmed it. I got out the car and realised that my FJ upper control arm ball joint had failed and my car was now undriveable. Later I found the axle had also been heavily damaged in the The GPS challenge had struck again!

@Rashidjass, @Scorpio & @presa came to see if there was something that could be done to get me back in the challenge again. Not even 1 hour into the event we were done!\



After some time @Mabubaker found a mechanic who was generous enough to come all the way to us to help repair the car in the desert. He was with us at the car working around the same time as the event prizes were being decided. So with one finishing another challenge was to begin.

Along with the mechanic I also had the support of all of the marshalls. This is why I love this club so much. None of them had to do that. It was so nice having the support. Amazingly the guy was able to fix the car in only a couple of hours and I was able to follow the marshalls myself to get out before sunset.

Thanks again to @Solmaz, @alshamsi_m, @Mabubaker, @Scorpio, @rapailo & @presa (sorry I forgot a couple marshalls names)

[alshamsi_m]

Dear all

The results as follows

1st place : Shared by PDS Strikes Back and Turtle Warriors with impressive 313 points scored by both teams.

Rest of the line up stayed unchanged with minor point changes.
2nd place : Not Your Average -294
3rd : Sons of Ditches - 259
4th : Dune Smashers - 241
5th : Thirsty Camels - 195


See you next challenge

[CARLOSS]

Hi everyone,

Let’s start with the recognitions: My deepest appreciation and gratitude to @Solmaz , amazing effort and creativity in designing & executing this outstanding event, my favorite so far in Almost. And founder, marshals and crew, who made this possible.

Now, the story…

As compared to 2023 edition, I did not prepare anything at all. Due to some work hassle, I did not have the time to even think about it and just showed up on Friday evening for camping with almost zero expectations meaning that I did not care too much about winning but about finishing

Nevertheless, there was one thing clear to me: This year I was taking zero risks. I shared this simple strategy with my teammates and they both agreed so, apart from targeting the hard way points due to obvious reasons, there was nothing else in the menu apart from having a great time and taking it very easy.

Team’s tasks allocations were also straight forward, @piotr and I sharing the lead and @Msharhan taking care of the paperwork. Next year it will be his turn to lead in his own convoy for sure because he performed extraordinary well and he will be eventually upgraded. Piotr was not a surprise though because I knew what he is capable of

All in all, once the way points & map were given, we quickly loaded the first one and off we went…a full day of joy just in front of us.

The playground was challenging due to sticky sabkhas, hard sand as a rock, soft patches of sand coming from nowhere etc. thus, we needed to adapt our driving style accordingly to our strategy and we ended up driving newbie -10 all the way through. And sometimes -5, I would say . I don’t believe that my car reached 4,000rpm in several hours with most of the drive in 2nd gear.

Time maximization was there, taking many but short breaks and economizing the time between waypoints by taking advantage of the many sabkhas, tracks and even roads ...With all that, we made around 140km and covered the whole circumference as shown in the picture below.

The team performed like a Swiss watch with every member performing well. There was not a single situation with only one car crested in the whole day…it was driving in Al Qudra. Still, I kept on reminding on the radio from time to time: “no side cresting, pls, keep it simple”, “stay focus”, “follow the track, do not improvise”, etc.

Flags searching was a bit more complicated as compared to last year meaning that our Marshals are also improving their technique in finding trickier locations… some hidden in bushes almost impossible to see unless you were no more than half a meter away, some in the middle of a big wall, some in the top of a dune and tree, one underneath an abandoned water tank... It was good fun putting ourselves in their shoes trying to figure out where the flags were hidden.

We found a few teams in our way and there was a bit of everything: greetings and running away, a member stealing one of the squeeze ducks from us, another trying to steal my car just in front of my eyes...next year we are going to need a policeman among us! Jokes aside, it was good to see familiar faces from time to time.

Arriving to the finish line was very satisfying, we finally made it!, and the winning ceremony was even better…some of the members, those who were just in front of me, will remind that for a while .

Interesting to see how things are, last year fully “prepared” and we were not able to finish and this year, zero preparation, relax mode and -10 newbie level and we won. Lesson learned.

For finalizing, I would like to congratulate the other teams, especially Turtles who co-won, because at the end of the day it is not whether you win or lose but to participate and finish in one piece the challenge.

I almost forget, this GPS Challenge victory is dedicated to my friend @Tomvanhouten who was really missed during this year adventure.

See you next year!

[ahmadtodxb]

Dear GPS Challengers,

Million thanks for @Solmaz for organising the event. also, extending my thanks to @alshamsi_m and the reset of the Marshalls for there dedication and well organized support they did in the event.

More about, Last year i heard how great was the 1st edition of this event, but i never thought it would be turn to be one my favourite event in Almost4x4 regardless the tiredness and loss weight from climbing some crazy spots to get the stamp and have a picture. on the way of the event i have catch-up with @Moustafa19 and at the last petrol station with @Aljamhi who turned that he forgot our dinner .. but luckily his home was near by and could get it and meet us back on the entry. However, from last petrol station to the meeting point i was asking my self why @Solmaz chooses this far place for challenge.. i couldnt figure it out till the event start the second day.

On gate we met abu Salim, and Solmaz short meeting while Ajamhi deflating and then Bu Salim flow in his car.. of course with Al jamhi and Mostafa encouragement i tried to catch up with him but no luck .
At the camp we met our marshals @presa , @Agalon and the challengers and we enjoyed with the BBQ and of course my Special tea

Late at night, i and @nidal78 we saw suspicious preparation from @Mghoneim and @AntonT they forgot Turtle Warrior was around ...

On event Day, Turtle Warriors as expected surprises the challengers with there amazing plan(there was no plan). once the Solmaz finish the briefing we just took the coordinates and ran to our cars.. at the end we Turtles we tried to be a bit faster.. @KIMOz led us to the first point, followed by @Vika and then me at the end.
we were just enjoying, playing safely.. following @KIMOz rabbit jumps .. i still have back pain .. he was leading us safely mostly straight cresting.. However, we went from point to point flawless collecting 9 toys and checking 24 point out of 40. one point 37 was about to cause me heart attack on foot climbing for just few meters. Kimoz and Vika was making fun of me the forgot am a real turtle :-D.

we put a cut off time to get back to the event meeting point it was 3:15pm. so we decided to collect a point near the meeting point and we found all thinking like us .. however no one found it. Lately, we decided to have cinematic entrance for the turtles lineing next to each other putting all our light one and and moving slowly to the entrance.

Now at end of the event, @rapailo and @Solmaz were doing amazing in tracking our steps. there were some glitch in point calculation but we accomplished shared 1st place with PDS i think with 313 points. making @KIMOz a winner for two consequence year..

I think enough details i dont want to stop but i think u got bored by now... in short amazing event, well organized thanks all for all of the efforts. dont forget to wait me next year breaking Kimoz records :-D

BR
Turtle Warrior (Abu Haitham) - Wining team 313 point

[Ely]

Dearest Almosters,

What an awesome event ! Seriously this was absolutely amazing!! A huge thank you to Solmaz , this must have required a massive organization and that was really impressive !!
I participated to another gps challenge couple of years ago as a passenger but it was nothing like this one! This was fun, with the right amount of challenges and adventures ! Surely we all have left with vivid memories from it!

As well, Thanks to all the supporting marshals from the ones that went in advance to place the flags, (some of you even drove during the weekdays) to the ones who stayed late yesterday to make sure we all go back home safely! And also thanks to the supporting members who brought the flags, helped out, and organized a very delicious barbecue!

I was part of the Thirsty Camels team along with MGhoneim, Galindakis who couldn’t make it (but won his own podium, so congrats !) and Anton who joined us last minute (really thank you for being part of the team).

A promising start with meeting strategy over the week, and some practice beforehand for some of us but on the D-day it didn’t turned out as expected…

The lack of network made it hard to enter and share points if you require the use of internet!
We began the drive and encountered a situation that put us at stop for a long moment, even calling for rescue thinking… it was game over but luckily it was a false alert and we could continue ! On that same area we had our little trouble, we kept looking for the approximate point for a really long time… it was hidden in a ditch… (Rashid’s signature).

Afterwards, we managed to get moving, collected a few points and it was already past midday…
Later on, early afternoon, I got stuck in a very delicate position learning a valuable lesson I should have known already : Rule number 1 : if you don’t feel it, don’t do it. I saw the obstacle, I saw both of them taking it, I saw the path, I had a bad feeling about it, I didn’t read a better way… so I took it, missed it, and ended up stuck side ways with a very dangerous view on the sand… last time I got stuck in a similar position I was chill but it wasn’t as bad as this time. Luckily, as I urged my team on the radio they came fast enough to counterweight my car. I was extremely lucky that I didn’t rolled over since I saw my car sliding very slowly just before they climbed on it. It took us a lot of time to get me out of this tricky situation. MGhoneim managed the whole operation with an imperial calm and Anton anchored my car, we also did some digging and I was pulled from the back… I have never felt so happy to be back on flat ground.

After that episode we carried on, remaining calm and positive, kept collecting until the end and managed to cross the finish line happy, with all our parts ! A few points were very tricky we had to do some serious climbing… I remember vividly one being on a wall, flag in a tree… how nasty was that !!!

A big shoutout to my team @MGhoneim(and his passenger) and @Anton for their endless support and for the rescue !

Tips for the future new participants :
-If you aim for the podium, use a proper GPS (Garmin 680 is extremely accurate and very useful, when you are close to target, zoom in and you will be able to find the exact location of the point. No joke! However down side of it, there isn’t a phone app to transfer data on your Garmin, you need to use a laptop with Basecamp and upload your data in Gpx format, then synchronize it. However New Garmin 700+ can be synchronized with the Garmin phone app, (thus no need of a laptop) nonetheless, it’s accuracy is not as good as the 600+ (I have been told) but it’s still excellent.
Using Gaia for visual is helpful, especially to create a shared folder to retrieve points from each others but it’s not good enough to use as GPS due to it lack of precision and it freezes a lot or go crazy, send you the wrong way and eventually your phone will overheat and the app will crash.
-Starting faster with entering only a few points to make sure you catch a few Toys is probably a better strategy than entering all 40 points at once (knowing that even the winners didn’t complete them all).
-Beginning by going up (north hemisphere on the map game area) against the dunes when you are fresh and well focused is also maybe a better move…(you will avoid putting yourself into troubling situations in the afternoon when you are the weakest).
-Leave the nearest points to the camp as last collections/stops, start by going as far as you can.
-Take a break. You won’t go faster if you don’t take one : fact, you will make more mistakes and waste even more time and risk to damage your car or be disqualified.
-Drive as a convoy but make your own way. (In a safe way) We all have our driving style and competencies and we are not marshals. We need more time to think to identify the right path, and at the same time to monitor our gps to stay in the right direction. As well we don’t necessarily know which ways/obstacles the others team members won’t be able to follow. If you don’t feel to take the same way as the member in front of you, because it is not your level or your don’t feel confident because you are tired or didn’t have enough coffee… don’t take it, drive the easy way. The point is to reach, not to race.
-If you are a newbie (like me) avoid leading in areas « against » the dunes especially during afternoon time. This is the moment when you are the less focused and it is harder to lead against and takes more time to find a path. Leave it to the intermediate members who have more experience in dune’s reading. (Or maybe don’t lead at all if you aim for the podium…and don’t want to send your car to the garage… or even worst ).

This is it ! Again huge thank you for this beautiful event, it is an unforgettable experience !!!

Lots of kisses see you all soon on the sand !

Ps: congratulations to the 6 winners !!!!! You rocked it ! it’s a well deserved victory!

[Petr]

I have to start by giving credits to @Solmaz - she has received the accolades numerous times by now form many of us here and on Whatsapp, but nothing is enough to appreciate the effort she, @alshamsi_m and other marshalls invested to give us generously this wonderful day in desert.

I regretted that I missed the previous GPS challenge due to my surgery, so I was excited that @osman organized our team together with @Kevin for the second edition. Unfortunately, just before the event, Kevin had to pull out and we could not find a replacement in the short notice, so we could not compete. However, @Solmaz let us to participate in the game - we just could not take the toys

Anyway, the lack of "competiton fever" and a possibility to keep the driving style at the intermediate level, brought an extra quality that let us enjoy the day to maximum. We used the 20km playground to fly freely. I enjoyed leading, when I practiced to find the best lines to flow and maximize sidecresting, and also I enjoyed trailing, when I was off duty to keep an eye on the GPS and I could look for alternative ways to the line @osman took.

Due to no time pressure we took the luxury of having 45 min break for lunch, sharing food and stories, before we continued on the flag hunt.

In the afternoon we reached a beautiful bowl with a majestic dune next to it. Since I overheard the changed instruction that the purple flag search diameter increased from 100m to 200m, we spent time exploring every inch of the 100m circle unsuccessfully. At one point, while I was looking around, I totally overlooked a ditch in front of me and dived my Jeep's nose into it. I paid by a damaged bumber and a seriously bent lower control arm (@Rashidjass may add more here as he is just checking it in his garage ), but my Jeep was still able to drive through the dunes as if there was no damage at all. It's the Jeep thing :D...

After getting a confirmation the ring is wider, we extended the search and found the well hidden flag eventually.

We enjoyed the drive so much that we miscalculated the time needed to overcome the 10 km field of dunes facing the soft side, and we arrived 15 min late after the deadline, meeting everyone at the camp site. We congratulated all the winners and I rushed to get back to the road to see if the Jeep would be drivable on the road. It was and I got back to Dubai safely soon.

At the end, a few notes about the navigation. My Garmin Montana 380 broke before the event (the plactic layer around the power switch fell apart and the switch got loose and also the charger stopped working. When I asked Garmin for repair possibilities, they basically said bugger of and buy a new device, so I am not likely going to but Garmin any more). Long time ago I experimented with iPhone GPS apps and I installed also the MotionX on my iPhone. It is an amazing offroad navigation app, comparable functionality with Montana and much easier to use. I haven't used it until this drive. The authors pulled it off the Apple Store, so it is available only to people like me who have luckily installed it earlier and didn't delete it. @osman is also a happy user who showed me some good tricks. It worked offline and was super precise, so it helped us finding the points fast and easily. It is a shame that the best navigation app is not available to users any more. The market behaves weirdly sometimes.

Many thanks to my buddy @osman for a great company and the initiative, and everyone who contributed to creating this worderful experience for all of us!