Abu Dhabi Off-Road Club Forums

desert_hawk wrote: .

Thanks DH & Iguana for taking the efforts to discuss this.

I totally agree on this, & this is clear from my very first post, it is just that the Intermediate level according to the new rules are too simple & we really enjoy this "sport" . I fully support your efforts in keeping the club safe & fun, therefore I refused to join other non club "trips" because I felt very comfortable in AD4x4 with its great members & the huge efforts by marshals, SC & founders in keeping things fun & safe..

I know I can grow & learn from the best.. & this is what I feel about AD4x4 the past few months since I joined.

It is just that we can't have enough.. & eager for more & more & more )

Eventually, as you both said, it is a change period & it will pass.. The fun, skills, & the taste of the sand is all what is left in the memory

Thats really a great Move!! looking forward to register and update!!

dont rush things ... interesting point about trips: Did you notice how many Newbie and Intermediate trips Marshal run every week? Much more than other grades...

...Advance and above requires more that just a star... and you can learn a lot of what you will need in future on Newbie and Intermediate trips. Specially you have lots of chances to learn safe and technical recoveries, pop out fixes, getting used to car, seeing different sands and understanding the difference in it by feeling and looking at it, drive at night, navigate your self etc etc. So trust me, no need to rush the upgrade. There is so much to learn in this grades...

Totally agree with Serge. I am a member since two years or so and still a newbie...partly because I am a lazy bum, partly because marshals don't actively promote members (you have to shout to be heard, just like...uh...life) but mostly because every trip i learn something new. The booklet thing will be good for those (like me) who don't like to shout and it should make the process a little bit more fair, eliminate wasta and thus more safe.
I cannot speak for other other members, but i do notice a lot of non-newbies participating in newbie trips. They must do this for a reason. My guess would be love for the club, wanting to help others and to learn new skills themselves. Help yourself by helping others. That's what makes AD4x4 such a great club!

Old system or new, log book or not, you all need to drive with different marshals
1. To learn different skills and styles
2. Acquire the required votes for your level, one marshal cannot upgrade you on his/her own

akhateeb wrote:

Serge wrote:

No previous trips will be counted.

But its a reason to be more active and enjoy. Are we all there to drive? Or to get upgraded?

Keep enjoying! And have a clear record of your trips from Feb 1st... make sure to always have your logbook on a trip.

Well, we are here to drive.. & dying to get through the newbie & intermediate levels ASAP to join the advanced stuff... So clearing your history while you are joining every possible trip to get the skills & get upgraded to new levels of fun is not fun!

Anyways, I've seen the famous discussion about the recent change in levels, so I know this is just a shout in the space.. I just hope to get through this "transition" periods quick & smooth..

Thanks all for the replies..

Khatib the log book is very help ful and nice . U are a nice driver as u have been with me twice , and for sure once u are with a marshal in a trip , he will sign for u . That is the best and easy way to upgrade trust me .. Will catch up live and review the book

desertfun wrote:Totally agree with Serge. I am a member since two years or so and still a newbie...partly because I am a lazy bum, partly because marshals don't actively promote members (you have to shout to be heard, just like...uh...life) but mostly because every trip i learn something new. The booklet thing will be good for those (like me) who don't like to shout and it should make the process a little bit more fair, eliminate wasta and thus more safe.
I cannot speak for other other members, but i do notice a lot of non-newbies participating in newbie trips. They must do this for a reason. My guess would be love for the club, wanting to help others and to learn new skills themselves. Help yourself by helping others. That's what makes AD4x4 such a great club!

Total agree .

I think this move is great. I am having so much fun, I have lost count of how many trips I have done.. or it could be old age ..
but now I will have a place where I can record my developments and look back on them with fond memories later.

Thanks to AD4x4 for keeping things current and giving us the fun times in the sand.

PS: I recently went camping with my "desert family" of experienced drivers, and was very proud to be able to keep up with them... Thanks to what I have learned with AD4x4, I was confident and able to be safe!

Thanks guys!

Hi All,

I think akhateeb is raising a concern that all of the new enthusiastic drivers have, me being one of them.
We are very eager to get to the advanced levels so that we can enjoy the desert, and the club is very concerned that we all learn the required skills before moving along for the safety of us all.

The log book is a great idea, and reading though it, it helps the driver keep track and understand the requirements & helps the marshals know what do they need to teach each driver, not to mention how positively it reflects on the professional level of the club.
But the only problem is that it canceled the previous trips that each driver had in his/her level, I agree with DH that the skills learnt is what counts and not the number of trips, but for those who were waiting for one or two more trips for the promotions, now have to go through another 6 "inter to adv". They will sure learn a lot trough these again, but they are going back to ground 0 "on the number of trips not skills" .

AD4x4, for me, is one of the most professional and caring clubs in the UAE, and advancing with in it is very logical & is not related to wasta, as someone said, and i consider myself & a couple of friends as good examples, for we have been promoted to Inter after 4 Newbie trips when the marshals saw that we have learned all the required, and they didnt delay it cause we havent been with the club for months.

As mentioned, we agree that you learn alot with the every trip, even if it was a slow one, but I have another concern here that I would like to raise for your consideration. Some of the intermediate trips, especially the ones lead by explorers and experts, are being of the same, or less difficulty or fun than the newbie trips, for the lead is being very careful to impress the marshal with the discipline, and the rest of the group are driving another anit on both the technical learning curve and the fun aspect.
Please consider this as constructive criticism, cause we are eager to have fun and learn more, but it becomes kind of frustrating to wake up at 6 and drive to Abu Dhabi and drop out on other plans, to go on another anit trip "again on both skill learning & fun level".
This is another reason than most of the enthusiastic drivers to count by hours the time they get promoted to learn more and enjoy more advanced trips.
I know this might sound selfish, but this is a concern.
I also know that the experts and explorers have to do this to move along, but maybe a solution would be for them to lead newbie trips or raise the bar a bit more on the inter trips.

Again thank you for listening and having this forum for discussion.

thankyou...

Got your point Colonel.
Please accept that there are reasons (mostly negative experience and bad accidents) behind a number of our rules and regs. For us is SAFETY FIIRST not only a nice slogan but a club credo.
I do not believe that any of our trip leaders changes his style just to impress a senior marshal. The trip is always adapted to the weakest link what might be a driver not seen by you but safely identified by the leaders resulting in a more controlled trip thus avoiding accidents leaving you with a negative trip experience...

I am 10years in this business and have seen a lot. Believe me, what we do and how we do it is well thought of.

Cheers

Jo

Appreciate your reply.
Safety first is one o the main reasons we joined the club and wouldnt want to compromise it whatsoever.
I know we all have to adapt to the weakest link, and it might be any of us drivers.
But Im just highlighting a concern to see if there is anyway to enhance the experience.

thankyou...

@ Colonel, to answer the 1st part of your question, go back to my first reply on this post, and if you have participated in any of the trips done yesterday, you should have seen the reply in practice

Hi Desert Hawk,

I went on a trip yesterday & the Marshal signed on the stuff we have done during that trip only.
Now if i understand your reply well, it means that the marshals we have previously been on trips with can sign on the techniques they have shared with us earlier?

thankyou...

Colonel wrote:Hi Desert Hawk,

I went on a trip yesterday & the Marshal signed on the stuff we have done during that trip only.
Now if i understand your reply well, it means that the marshals we have previously been on trips with can sign on the techniques they have shared with us earlier?

thankyou...

To prevent all the mess that might result, any previous logs should not be considered, otherwise what will be the cut off point, 1 week ago, or 1 year ago?!! believe me, continue driving and have fun, and your upgrade will come to you just like before, but in a more professional way

As for the trip count, you mentioned that you required 1 or 2 more trips to get your upgrade, but who told you that?! doing the minimum no of trips does not entitle anyone for an upgrade, it's the skills that counts, you might have 10 trips without any recoveries, pop outs, and in one trip you get 3 pop outs and 10 recoveries, trip count is the least that count

QUALITY NOT QUANTITY

LOLOLOLOLOEESsh Finally I understand the this idea

A common mistake between members and Marshal to understand this idea

Are our skills and our previous you gone, as were not before I did??!!
These infidels are not true never

This book complements Number of to you too trips, but complement trips there detail explanation, to be a reference you in the future.

Another error between Marshal

Is there a number of trips to move from one level to another?
This is not there also

There are a number of Marshall who must see you deserve the moving from one level to another.
You may get a sufficient number of signatures of Marshal you deserve the moving from one level to another in a single trip ,if more than Marshall in this trip. was watch your performance was Good assess your performance to another level will be signed


I liked the idea very, very after I upset
Because in this course will get the Justice