Legendary Climber Doug Tompkins Dies in Kayaking Accident

Doug Tompkins, founder of The North Face, dies in kayaking accident in South America.

Doug Tompkins, 72, was on a kayak trip to Gerneral Carrera Lake in Patagonia in southern Chile with Yvon Chouinard, Rick Ridgeway, Western Boyles, Jim Ellison and Lorenzo Alvarez.

Strong waves on the lake capsized the group’s kayaks in four degrees Celsius water. Chouinard and Ridgeway were helicoptered out with Tompkins and the other men were picked up by a military boat.

The men were air lifted to the Coyhaique Regional Hospital over 2,000 kilometres south of Santiago. Tompkins died of hypothermia after spending some time in water that was four degrees Celsius.

Tompkins started climbing at 12 years old and started skiing a few years later. Eventually he found himself travelling through Europe and South America on a ski trip.

In the 1960s, he opened a shop in San Francisco that specialized in backpacking and ski equipment. The store would become The North Face. Tompkins also founded the casual sportswear company ESPRIT.

In the late 1980s, Tompkins sold ESPRIT and turned his focus on conservation work in South America. In the early 1990s, he and his wife Kris moved to Chile and have since purchased over two-million acres of land to protect as conservation areas.

In 1968, Tompkins, Chouinard and two friends went on a six-month adventure to South America. With Richard Dorworth, Chris Jones and Lito Tejada Flores they climbed a new 400-metre route on Fitzroy called the California Route 5.10, which was featured in their adventure film called Mountain of Storms.

– For more on Tompkins Conservation, visit here.