Douglas Tompkins, wealthy US businessman and environmentalist, dies in Chile

Douglas Tompkins, the American co-founder of the outdoor label The North Face, has died in a kayak accident in Chile’s southern Patagonia region, a doctor who tried to save him says.

The conservationist and outdoorsman was kayaking on the General Carrera Lake in Chile with a group of people when he and five others were tossed into the water.

It says Tompkins died in the intensive care unit of the hospital in Coyhaique – a town 1,700 kilometres south of the capital city Santiago. Officials in Chile said Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015, that the wealthy USA businessman and environmental activist has died from severe hypothermia in a kayaking accident.

“He had lost consciousness and wasn’t breathing” when brought to the hospital by helicopter, Dr. Carlos Salazar told local television stations. After a trip to climb Mount Fitzroy in Patagonia several years later, he became active in environmental causes in the region. He owned hundreds of thousands of acres in Patagonia, a travel destination bursting with tough terrain and untamed rivers straddling southern Chile and Argentina.

“We are all deeply saddened at the news of Doug’s passing”.

Tompkins’ body temperature was 19 degrees Celsius after being taken out of the water, the statement said. “He also donated land to create coastal national parks in Chile and Argentina”.

In addition to outdoor gearmaker North Face, Tompkins started fashion company Esprit Holdings Ltd.in the 1960s.

“He was 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”, the company wrote. An accomplished mountaineer, paddler, surfer and skier, he also founded the clothing company Esprit with his first wife, Susie, according to his conservation website.