Marthinius Strand was born in Dramen, Norway. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1910, he organized a company called Strand Electric Company. In 1916, he organized the Utah Ski Club and was its president for many terms during the 1930s. He also served as president of the Western Amateur Ski Association and vice-president and director of the National Ski Association for several years, as well.
Strand’s Alta involvement was the initial construction of the original Collins Lift in 1938. Because of his electrical engineering background, he provided the initial expertise required to take a very new chairlift conveyance technology and make it so people could enjoy riding up the ski hill at Alta. Fred Speyer took over the responsibility of finalizing the ski lift project from Strand and the original Collins lift opened to the public in January 1939.
Strand continued his interest in skisport as a registered ski jumping judge for thirty-five years and acted in that capacity in countless ski jumping competitions. He was, elected to the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame in 1958 and passed away in 1965.