Millionaire founder of The North Face Doug Tompkins, 72, dies in kayak accident

Doug Tompkins

The 72-year-old founder of outdoor clothing company The North Face died on Tuesday in a kayaking accident in Chile.

Businessman and environmental activist Douglas Tompkins died from severe hypothermia after his kayak capsized in a lake in the Patagonia region of southern Chile, officials said.


The Aysten health service said the Tomkins, who is also the co-founder of Esprit clothing, was boating with five other foreigners when all of the kayaks capsized at about noon, local time.

Tompkins died at about 6.30pm local time in the intensive care unit of the hospital in Coyhaique, a town 1,056 miles south of Santiago, officials said.

The Chilean navy confirmed the cause of the accident was strong winds which caused huge waves and that the group should not have gone kayaking, as the weather was not good and they didn’t inform local authorities they were going to do so.

Waves on the lake on Tuesday were reaching up to three meters, according to Fox News Latino.Three of the kayakers were able to swim to a nearby island, but the remaining three struggled in the water.

Local prosecutor, Pedro Salgado, told the New York Times that Tompkins spent a ‘considerable amount of time in waters under 4 degrees Celsius’, or under 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chile’s army said a military patrol boat rescued three of the boaters and a helicopter lifted out the other three.

Tomkins, along with two other people, were taken to the hospital.

General Carrerra is the largest lake in South America, covering 1150 square miles. The Indian name for the lake is Chelenko, which means lake of storms.

Chileans on Twitter reacted to his death by saying he would be sadly missed and he died at what he often referred to as his place in the world and doing what he loved most: sports and enjoying the outdoors.

Tompkins, born March 20, 1943, grew up in Millbrook, New York, and was the son of an antiques dealer, according to the Los Angeles Times.