The 20-year-old Queenstown resident is better known for his exploits on a snowboard.
But when you are trying to get through lockdown, you do what you have to.
The arrival of Covid-19 was lousy timing for everyone.
Collins dealt with the setback well but it was annoying all the same.
He picked up a serious shoulder injury just days before the 2018 Winter Olympics.
That was one big missed opportunity, followed by a couple of surgeries and 18 months of rehabilitation.
But all that hard slog paid off when he won the men's slopestyle Snowboard World Cup in Calgary in February.
Shortly after that he was flying back to New Zealand as the world geared up for its battle with the pandemic.
"We had another three or four comps to go that season. Everything was pretty much just ramping up and I was really looking forward to the next few comps," Collins said.
"The result in Calgary made me feel like I was back to where I was.
"But it was good to end the season on that high note."
Suddenly snowboarding was off and skateboarding was on.
He made the most of the downtime. During the nationwide lockdown he spent many hours on his skateboard.
Collins has got his own ramp and was carving up on that rather than the snow.
But he was very pleased to be back competing on the powder this month.
He was in team Smoothy for the Winter Games New Zealand Obsidian event.
"It was so fun. It was such a sick event," he said.
Team Smoothy is in pole position. The team is just waiting for the final edit of the film it shot while competing to find out whether it will be crowned champions.
As for what is next on the agenda, well, you might say it is all up in the air.
He has a lot of training ahead and plans to prepare as if the season will go ahead as normal.
"Even if the season is not going to happen we need to be ready in case it does.
"It is hard to say [when we will have some clarity]. We are hoping by October-November we will know for sure what we are going to be doing.
"It all just depends on what happens with Covid."
