COYHAIQUE, Chile, Dec. 9 (UPI) — Co-founder of outdoor gear maker The North Face and respected conservationist Douglas Tompkins died Tuesday after a kayaking accident in the Patagonia region of Chile. He was 72.
Tompkins exact cause of death was severe hypothermia. He was kayaking on the General Carrera Lake with five people when their kayaks overturned in water that was just above freezing. They were rescued by a patrol boat and military helicopter, but Tompkins later died at Coyhaique Regional Hospital in Southern Chile, the regional government’s health department said in a statement.
“Very sad the passing of Douglas Tompkins, a man who stood up to major interests to defend the Patagonia,” Chilean Senator Juan Pablo Letelier wrote on his Twitter account.
Tompkins grew up in Millbrook, New York and co-founded The North Face as a ski and backpacking retail and mail order business. He also co-founded the clothing company Espirit with his wife, Susie, in 1968. He sold both companies and retired in 1989.
He then bought and created a 716,606-acre nature preserve of lakes, forests and fjords named Pumalin Park in a region of Patagonia that straddles Argentina and Chile.
On the company’s Facebook page, The North Face hailed Tompkins as “a passionate advocate for the environment, and his legacy of conversation is one that we hope to help continue in the work we do every day. … He will be missed.”
