Collin Johnston
Minnesota, USA | Active public archive: 2021-present | Known for: SuperUnknown 21 finalist, Surface Skis AM-BASSADOR, Sun’qhela, Hyland and Midwest street/park clips | Discipline: street skiing, park skiing, creative jib
Hyland Hills Under Short Midwest Light
The rail line at Hyland Hills sat under flat Minnesota light, snow packed tight between rope laps and short landings. Collin Johnston came through the setup with the speed of a Midwest skier who cannot waste distance: pop early, lock the slide, land clean, and be ready for the next feature before the hill runs out.
That Hyland footage gives the clearest recent frame for Johnston’s public profile. Collin at Hyland, published by Surface in 2025 and filmed and edited by Oliver Viscoli, places him exactly where his skiing makes sense: a compact hill, technical rails, repeatable laps and a visual language built around creative use of limited space.
Mankato Snow Before The Bigger Edits
Johnston’s public trail points strongly toward southern Minnesota. A CBS Minnesota report from a March snowstorm in Mankato showed him and friends building a small ski setup in an alley after heavy, wet snow returned just before spring. It was not a ski film premiere, but it captured the root of his skiing: make a setup when the snow arrives, even if the hill is a street corner.
That Mankato link returns in Sun’qhela, a video described as two years following Collin Johnston and friends in the greater Mankato area. The title gives the project a rough street-ski mood rather than a resort-polished identity. For skipowd.tv, that makes Johnston a Midwest creative skier first, not a federation contest athlete.
Sun’qhela And The Viscoli Lens
Sun’qhela is one of the strongest project markers around Johnston because it is built around time rather than one session. Two years of filming in and around Mankato suggests a street-skiing process: waiting for storms, searching for rails, pulling snow into run-ins, testing speed and trying to make local objects work as ski features.
Oliver Viscoli appears repeatedly in the visual archive around Johnston, including Hyland and local edits. That filmer connection matters because street skiing is rarely a solo act. The skier needs someone who understands when to keep the frame wide, when to cut close to the rail, and when the landing sound or body position tells more than the trick name.
SuperUnknown 21 At Mammoth
Johnston’s biggest public breakthrough came through Level 1’s SuperUnknown 21. FREESKIER listed him among the men’s finalists for the 2024 edition at Mammoth Mountain, alongside Felix Klein, Mathias Høgås, Andy Hoblitzelle, Daniel Johnson, Blake Rolfing, Rafael Diaz, Ailo Riponiemi, Jackson Jenkins and Keagan Supple.
SuperUnknown matters because it is built for skiers whose proof comes through edits. The event brought finalists to Mammoth Unbound from April 18 to 23, giving them six days of riding in a park environment with invited pros and film crews around them. For Johnston, it moved a Minnesota street-and-park profile into a wider freeski filter.
Pink Eden And The Mammoth Week
After the event, FREESKIER published Pink Eden, Gavin Rudy’s look at SuperUnknown 21. The athlete order included Collin Johnston among a wide group of finalists and invited riders, with names such as Rell Harwood, Felix Klein, Jackson Wells, Mac Forehand, Daniel Johnson, Topher Newett, Ryan Stevenson, Luca Harrington, Pete Koukov, Bennie Osnow and Taylor Lundquist.
That context is useful because it shows the level of room he entered. Johnston was not presented as the winner of the event, and the page should not inflate the result. The verified point is enough: his video skiing earned a SuperUnknown finalist place, and his name appears inside the Mammoth week archive.
How Johnston Skis Short Features
Johnston’s skiing should be watched through rail timing, compact movement and speed management. Midwest terrain often forces skiers to learn quickly: short inruns, small hills, icy snow, rope laps, quick transitions and landings that arrive before the body has time to relax.
The technical details to watch are the takeoff angle, body compression, rail pressure, switch exits, butters, redirects and how he keeps speed alive between objects. His public clips point toward a skier who works well on compact features, not one trying to build a profile around huge jumps or World Cup slopestyle lines.
Surface Skis And The AM-BASSADOR Line
Surface Skis gives Johnston his clearest verified support thread. The brand’s team page lists Collin Johnston under AM-BASSADORS, in a roster that also includes Ian Switzer, Shane Good, Finley Good, James Cavallo, Vincent Authier, Birk Paalgard, John Lohnes, Misha Litvinenko Ndiaye, Mario Grob and others.
That status should be read accurately. It confirms a Surface connection, but it is not the same as a pro-model ski or a top-tier factory contract. For Johnston’s page, the useful equipment context is broader: rail-focused skiing, durable twin-tip skis, enough flex for presses and butters, and a setup built for repeated park and street impacts.
Trollhaugen During Open Haugen
Open Haugen’s 20th anniversary at Trollhaugen added another Midwest contest reference. Newschoolers described a wet, storm-interrupted event with riders from Duluth, Mankato, the Twin Cities and Wisconsin, naming Collin Johnston among the field. The recap said Collin ended up with the win and took home $250.
That result fits his profile better than a formal FIS page would. Trollhaugen is part of the Midwest rail ecosystem: rope-tow laps, fast sessions, crowd energy, weather that can change the event, and riders who know each other from small hills and street missions. Johnston’s visibility grows naturally in that environment.
Where The Midwest Archive Belongs
The strongest skipowd.tv tags for Collin Johnston are Minnesota, Mankato, Hyland Hills, Trollhaugen, Open Haugen, SuperUnknown 21, Mammoth Mountain, Surface Skis, Sun’qhela, Oliver Viscoli, street skiing, park skiing and creative jib.
The safest current endpoint is precise: SuperUnknown 21 finalist in 2024, Surface AM-BASSADOR listing, Collin at Hyland in 2025, Open Haugen visibility at Trollhaugen, and Sun’qhela as the Mankato-area street project. Future updates should track new Surface clips, Level 1 appearances, Midwest rail events and any verified solo part that expands Johnston’s archive beyond Hyland and Mankato.
