FAB 4

JEFF STEENBAKKERS

For this edition of the FAB 4 we caught up with non other than the Host of Snowmobiler TV (STV), Jeff Steenbakkers.

Jeff grew up in eastern Ontario’s Ottawa Valley in a “racing family”. Over the months without snow, the Steenbakkers would travel around the eastern seaboard racing cars and tractors, so it should come to no surprise that when those toys went away for the season, snowmobiles would come right out.

Jeff’s snowmobiling career started over forty years ago when he fi rst started to ride but his fi rst industry job didn’t come until the mid 90s. He landed his fi rst industry job with his family’s long-time friend and owner at the time of SnowTrax Television, John Massingberd. While there Jeff’s role dramatically increased over time to becoming one of the hosts of the show. Sadly in the mid 2000s John passed away, the business was sold and shortly after Jeff moved on, taking some time away from the powersports industry. He wasn’t gone very long before the industry came knocking, and he returned to the industry attending Snow Shoot and riding for the cameras once again with OSM until 2017 when he returned to a familiar role. He returned to hosting Snowmobiler Television (STV).

Today he is responsible for hosting and creating the content for the show along with a great team of people which help bring STV to life. Jeff rides mostly in the Ottawa Valley area and is lucky enough to leave right from his house on some of the best trails in all of Ontario. Although if you ask Jeff where he likes to ride most, he will most likely tell you northern New Brunswick. In his words “The trails there are simply second to none. It always feels like an adventure in New Brunswick”.

Jeff’s most recent snowmobile crush would be his triple-triple monster sleds, and his garage is full of them. If you have yet to catch up with Jeff on the trails or lakes swapping out BR9-ES sparkplugs on his fl eet of old triple-triples you can catch him on numerous networks and even on the STV YouTube page all winter long. And with that we asked Mr. Steenbakkers, “What were your four most memorable snowmobiles of all time?”

1990 Polaris Indy 650 2019 Yamaha SRX 1 2

I bought this sled with the help of my parents in 1992 and have had it ever since. It’s even been seen from time to time on STV. This was the sled that made me a hardcore Snowmobiler. This was in the OSM/STV fl eet sled that year with some secret sauce added by Precision EFI. It was a trail sled only but I really liked the way it handled, sounded, and defi nitely its speed. It was the color that all Side Winders should be, BLUE.

All the fi rst-generation Ski-Doo REVs 3

I was there for the press introduction and remember being blown away at what a snowmobile could be. That fi rst ride aboard the MXZ 800 Rev is something I’ll never forget. It changed the industry.

1980 Ski-Doo Citation 4500 4

This was the fi rst sled I was ever on and can remember. It was my grandfathers and I have a distinct memory of being on that sled as a kid traveling around the lake at their cottage. That sled meant so much to all of us that it is still in the family!

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