Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whanau a Heggtveit i Ottawa, Ontario, i tipu ake ia i New Edinburgh, he taone nui ki te raki-rawhiti. I whakatenatenahia ia ki te reti maunga e tona papa, a Halvor Heggtveit, he toa whakawhiti whenua o Kanata i tohu mo nga Orimipia o te takurua i te tau 2010.
1932, engari kaore i whakataetae. I heke mai ōna mātua i Norway ki Dakota ki te Raki. I ako ia ki te reti reti i te waahi reti reti Camp Fortune i te tata o Gatineau Hills o Quebec, ki te raki-hauauru o Ottawa, a he akonga ia i te Whare Wananga o Lisgar Collegiate i Ottawa. Ko Heggtveit he kaiwhakataetae reti reti reti, i karangatia i te whitu o ona tau ki te mahi hei kaiwhakataetae ki te whakataetae heke i Lake Placid i te 1946.