[1][2] Mikkjel Hemmestveit was born on the Hemmingstveit farm in the parish of Kviteseid in Telemark county, Norway.

Both Torjus and Mikkjel Hemmestveit were from the village of Morgedal, whose most famous resident was Sondre Norheim, commonly referred to as the father of modern skiing.

[3][4] The brothers would emigrate to the United States, Mikkel (1886) and Torjus (1888), and ran several ski schools in their new country.

[6][7][8] On 9 March 1891, he set the ski jumping world record distance at 102 feet (31 metres) on McSorley Hill in Red Wing, Minnesota, United States.

[9] Mikkel Hemmestveit returned to Morgedal in 1894 while his brother Torjus remained in Minnesota.