A tribute from Sébastien Ferron, SledMagazine.com contributor and creator of Tazmonster Sleds and Bikes, in memory of Denis Lavoie.
This is my farewell message to my friend.
It is for Denis. For his family. And for everyone whose life he touched.
The Message That Started It All
December 3, 2022, at 12:27 p.m.
This message arrived through Messenger:
“Hi! I’m Denis Lavoie from Motoneiges.ca. I’d like to chat with you when you have a minute. We could talk by phone or Zoom, whichever you prefer.”
Ha, ha! It turned out to be the longest minute of my career—but in the best possible way.
A YouTube Channel Born From Passion, Not Ambition
Before I tell you about Denis, I need to tell you a little about myself.
I launched Tazmonster Sleds and Bikes ten years ago. Not to become famous. Not to make money.
I started it because I loved what I was doing. I enjoyed helping people with their snowmobile repairs and introducing them to events, products, powersports athletes and cyclists.
For a long time, that was all it was: a regular guy from Québec and the Gaspésie, a camera, a garage and a lot of patience.
I watched the big channels grow. I admired them, but I never dared compare myself to them. I was too shy for that.
I quietly did my own thing, without expecting much.
A Meeting That Was Meant to Happen
Denis told me he was very interested in who I was and what I was doing. He invited me to Saint-Luce, where Motoneiges.ca was headquartered, to discuss a video web series and the possibility of filming mechanical segments.
Even today, I still wonder why he took an interest in me.
There are so many content creators in our industry. So many channels and so many voices. Why mine?
After meeting with him for 60 to 75 minutes, I understood something: Denis liked surrounding himself with people who spoke the same language he did.
Not the language of numbers or subscriber statistics.
The language of pure passion.
Denis was a dreamer. A true enthusiast. The kind of person who brought you along with him and made you discover and experience his passion for snowmobiling, ATVs and just about anything with an engine that could travel off-road.
He did not look at your subscriber count. He looked at the fire inside you.
Fearing a Trap, Then Choosing to Trust
For a long time, I wondered whether it was some kind of trap.
I was a very small player in the media world, especially on YouTube. I had around 200 subscribers.
That is almost nothing in our industry. It is the kind of number you are almost embarrassed to say out loud.
Why would a man like Denis Lavoie—with his network, contacts and magazine—want to spend his time on me?
I turned the question over in my mind for days.
But I am the kind of person who trusts people and believes in them. So I decided to give him a chance.
Two weeks later, I travelled to Denis’s home.
The drive felt long. My heart was beating a little faster than usual, and I did not know what to expect.
The second the door opened, Denis shook my hand.
“Come in, come in. Have a seat. Would you like something to drink?”
All my nervousness disappeared at once.
You cannot imagine the warmth this man radiated.
We sat down and talked like two old friends, not like a boss and a future contributor.
Denis was reassuring and deeply knowledgeable about his field, but he never made anyone feel inferior.
Quite the opposite. Denis gave so much of himself to help others follow his lead. He was a generous dreamer who did not want to dream alone.
He wanted partners in crime—people willing to join him on the adventure.
When Passion Becomes Energy
That day, Denis gave me a boost of passion. He gave me the energy and motivation to do more.
Denis’s passion was a wonderful force. It could turn a rainy January day into a beautiful storm filled with fresh powder.
“Can You Write?”
After that day, Denis asked me whether I knew how to write.
Uh… How was I supposed to tell him I was dyslexic? That I made mistakes every other letter?
I thought to myself, “He’s going to change his mind when he sees my writing.”
But Denis convinced me. He needed fresh perspectives for certain articles, and he asked me to join the team.
Once again, I had no idea how I was going to pull it off.
But Denis wanted to take me along on his journey. He showed me how to write with passion instead of worrying about perfect grammar.
He often told me that mistakes could be corrected, but passion could not be taught.
If only my teachers had been like him, the school dropout rate would probably be lower.
In March 2023, I published my first article. I admit that my hands were shaking a little.
I read it at least ten times before submitting it. I was afraid of being judged. Afraid people would laugh at my mistakes.
Nobody laughed. Denis simply encouraged me to keep going.
I have never stopped since.
Once again, Denis knew how to believe in me. He shared his vision and his passion for snowmobiling and ATVs.
What Denis Truly Gave Me
Looking back, I realize Denis did not simply give me an opportunity in front of the camera or a place in a magazine.
He gave me permission to be myself—with my strengths, my mistakes and my Gaspésie accent.
In our industry, it is easy to feel small. We look at the major channels, big budgets and professional riders, and we tell ourselves that we do not belong.
Denis never saw things that way.
He saw a garage guy with a camera and a genuine passion. To him, that was enough to deserve a seat at the table.
He never asked me to become someone else. He only asked me to be even more myself—and to own it with confidence.
Today, whenever I film a mechanical segment or write an article for the magazine, I still think about him. About his trust and his generosity.
Thank You, Denis
Thanks to Denis Lavoie and the boost of passion and determination he gave me, I grew. I pushed beyond my limits.
I went from being a shy guy with 200 subscribers to someone who dares to write, film and share his passion without fearing other people’s judgment.
Much of that is thanks to you, Denis.
You never sought recognition for what you accomplished. Instead, you worked to help the people around you shine.
That is exactly why your passing has left such an enormous void in our industry.
Thank you, my friend.
Thank you for believing in a regular guy from Québec and the Gaspésie whom no one had noticed yet.
Thank you for showing me that we can write from the heart, even when the words do not come out perfectly.
We will all miss your passion, but it lives on through every video, every article and every person whose life you touched.
Rest in peace, my friend.
A tribute from Sébastien Ferron, Motoneiges.ca and SledMagazine.com contributor and creator of Tazmonster Sleds and Bikes, in memory of Denis Lavoie.
