Random Review: 2015

There have been a lot of years in the history of the world, too many for us to review each one. And since we’re feeling a little lethargic after last night, we figured we’d grab the nearest year we could find: 2015.

Like every year, some good things happened in 2015 and some less good things happened. And this is our totally unsystematic, pretty lazy, and admittedly shallow review of some of the Best and Worst of 2015.

But we’re just getting the ball rolling here, so please add your own Best & Worst of 2015 and help us flesh this list out a bit.

We’ll start with the bad, then end on a high note.

Worst Things of 2015

• Donald Trump somehow managed to get louder.
• Lots of people around the world kept shooting or trying to blow up other people. If someone were to write a review of The Human Race, you’d have to conclude that we are too often really fucking stupid and cruel.
• Electric fat bikes

• The World Health Organization adds bacon to the ever-growing list of things that cause cancer.
• The bike industry got even more fractured and fad driven. On a related note, bike manufacturers decided to take a giant steaming shit on anything resembling a common standard.
• Lift ticket prices

Best Things of 2015

• The fact that you’re reading this, which means you’ve survived another year. Seriously, Congratulations!
• Alpine Touring equipment – Things are finally getting really good on this front.
• At the beginning of the year, seeing the East Coast get the best / most snow in the US.
• At the end of the year, seeing it snow again in California.
• Shred Kelly produced the greatest ski-themed music video ever:

• Short travel 29’ers hit their stride, and they are really fun.
• While there are more wheel sizes and random standards than ever before, mountain bikes are still a lot of fun, and trail networks just keep on growing.
• Josh Bryceland, AKA Ratboy finally takes home a World Cup DH win at MSA.
• People around the world continue to produce a staggering amount of great books, music, and movies. If you ever get too down on The Human Race (see above), just remember this: there is far too much incredible stuff being produced for you to ever get to know all of it. There is too much talent, insight, and creativity in the world. This is grounds for optimism, no?

Ok, we’re going to take a nap. But while we do, please feel free to add to our Best & Worst Things of ‘15 below, and let’s do everything we can to make 2016 outperform 2015.