Meet Johnny Collinson - Live to Ski

Welcome Johnny Collinson to the Just Live Team

As the legend goes, it was Sir Isaac Newton who coined the familiar adage, “What goes up must come down,” while sitting under an apple tree. Of course, he was talking about gravity, but he could’ve been talking about Just Live’s newest athlete, mountaineer and big mountain free-skier Johnny Collinson, who regularly climbs up the gnarliest mountains in the world and then skis down them.

Collinson, the son of an endurance athlete mom and a ski patrol director dad, grew up in Snowbird, Utah, at the base of the world famous ski resort. Along with his sister, Angel, he spent his childhood summers hiking and backpacking around the western United States.

At age 4, he scaled Mt. Rainier in Washington state. By the time he was 6, he added the California peaks of Mt. Shasta and Mt. Whitney to the list. And when Johnny was just 17 years old, he summited Mt. Everest to become one of the youngest people ever to scale the Seven Summits, which are the highest mountains on each of the seven continents.

During his Everest climb, the sherpas gave him the nickname “White Sherpa” after, instead of sleeping, the indefatigable Collinson helped an altitude sick adult rehydrate and recover. Would you expect any less from someone who has been honing his high-altitude climbing ability since he was 4 years old?

But for all the climbing up that Johnny has done, what he’s really known for is skiing down. While most skiers specialize in either freestyle skiing or big mountain skiing, Johnny’s upbringing enabled him to develop the passion and skills for both. Today at 28 years old, Johnny Collinson is recognized as one of the most progressive, versatile and recognizable faces of big mountain skiing.

He’s won the 2010 Junior Freeskiing Tour overall title and landed on podiums at several Freeskiing World Tour events and Red Bull big mountain competitions. He’s even racked up awards for segments in films by TGR, Sweetgrass Productions and Sherpas.

If his career achievements make him sound superhuman, his history of injuries proves otherwise. “Throughout my career,” he says, “I’ve gotten banged up a few times, I’ve had multiple knee surgeries on my knees, ACL repairs, rotator cuff, labrum repairs, broken ribs, broken jaw, broken fingers. Kind of gotten beat up a few times, for sure.”

No stranger to the “fuzzy and dizzy” feelings of using prescribed opiates, Johnny’s the type of person who prefers the symptoms of injury recovery over the side effects of pharmaceuticals. “Having an all natural sort of pain relief in these products that can help steer us away from pharmaceuticals and opiates is super important. It’s what drew me to CBD in the first place,” he says, adding, “Ideally, everybody would have the opportunity to use CBD for whatever they might be using a pharmaceutical for.”

If actions speak louder than words, consider his recovery from a 2018 ACL surgery. “Using CBD has been a huge step for me, even in the instance of my last knee surgeries. I was able to come out of my last surgery and not take any of the painkillers after and was just using CBD to manage that pain and that inflammation,” he said, continuing, “and that just set me up for better success as fast as possible because it wasn’t weeks of trying to get off the pain meds and feeling fuzzy and dizzy. It was instantly a lot more clarity and getting back to what I’ve loved to do, which was just starting training as soon as I could,” he said.

Like his peers on the Just Live Team, Johnny’s livelihood depends on travel. That means odd hours, unfamiliar beds, new time zones and a complete disruption of routine, all of which can adversely affect performance. A bad night’s sleep can not only worsen performance; it can increase susceptibility to injury.

“Having a natural sleep aid is pretty key. Not only for the travel, and we’re bouncing around in different time zones, you’re in new environments, and that can really mess up your sleep schedule. And that sleep schedule is super important because it’s when your body is in that recovery state,” he said.

Now fully recovered from injury, Johnny views CBD as a valuable preventative measure, saying, “CBD has become — definitely a part of my everyday routine. And I find it works best for me if I take it in a few different ways. I’ll use a topical before a big training session or before a big day on the hill,” he says, “to manage that swelling before it even starts. And then I like the tinctures; I’ll take those orally at the end of the day, usually, to kind of offset, again, the wear and tear that we’ve put on the body. And lastly, one of my favorites is the sleep aid. It’s pretty crucial to get those Zs and get a full night’s rest.”

Of joining the Just Live team, Johnny says, “I think what’s cool about being part of the Just Live community is that it’s a ton of like-minded athletes that all see the value in CBD and an all-natural solution to health. And they’re all just excited to come together and bring that product out to more people and spread that wellness and healthy living to more people.”

Excited, we are. Welcome to the Team, Johnny.