North Face Co-Founder Douglas Tompkins Dead At 72; Public Mourn Death

The North Face co-founder Douglas Tompkins has died, according to The Guardian.

Douglas Tompkins was a millionaire who was behind the adventure brand, The North Face and also Esprit, according to sources. He has also given millions of dollars into conservation to save South American ecosystems. He and his wife Kristine has saved an estimated two million acres of land in South America.

In 1989 he abandoned his old lifestyle and estate in San Francisco and moved to the wilds of Patagonia. He adopted the values of the deep ecology movement and started his campaign on environmental preservation.

On Tuesday, Tompkins died from severe hypothermia in a kayaking accident in Chile, according to The Wall Street Journal. He was 72 years old. The Aysen health service explained that Tompkins was boating with five other foreigners on a lake in the Patagonia region of southern Chile. The kayaks of the group capsized on the lake and Tompkins died in the intensive care unit of the hospital in Coyhaique.

"He had lost consciousness and wasn't breathing" said Dr. Carlos Salazar on local television stations when The North Face co-founder Douglas Tompkins was brought to the hospital by helicopter.

The army of Chile said that strong waves on the lake were the cause of the capsizing, according to The New York Times. The one who rescued the three of the boaters was a military patrol boat from the Chile army. The other three were lifted out by a helicopter. There were no other people injured from the incident.

Tompkins was under the water for a long time, which was "less than 4 degrees Celsius," said Local prosecutor Pedro Salgado.

The Chileans on Twitter has reacted to The North Face co-founder Douglas Tompkins' death, according to the Daily Mail. They said that he will be missed and he died at what he would often say as his place in the world which sports and enjoying the outdoors.