Doug grew up in Millbrook, New York but headed west at 17 to ski race and climb. In 1964, he founded The North Face to make and sell outdoor equipment. A few years later, he headed south on a road trip to Patagonia to climb Mt. Fitzroy, surfing, skiing, and climbing along the way, an adventure documented in the film Mountain of Storms. Upon returning, he co-founded Esprit clothing company with his first wife, Susie. Under their leadership, Esprit grew into a multinational company with over $1 billion in sales. In the late 1980s, he became increasingly interested in environmental activism (and disenchanted with promoting a consumer culture), leading him to sell his share of Esprit. He created the Foundation for Deep Ecology, and soon afterwards moved to south Chile to focus on conservation. Doug passed away on December 8th, 2015 while kayaking with friends on Chile’s Lago General Carrera. Kris, the Tompkins’ foundations, and our partners are committed to completing all original conservation projects.∼Douglas Rainsford Tompkins, the founder of two outdoors gear and apparel companies, North Face and Esprit, died on Tuesday of severe hypothermia after a kayaking accident in Chile. Gusting winds and the resulting waves, some as high as nine feet, overturned his kayak on Lake General Carrera, a 714-square-mile lake separating Chile from Argentina. The lake is north of Patagonia Park, a 200,000-acre former sheep ranch that Tompkins and his wife, were rebuilding in an effort to create a national park.
According to a Patagonia Park employee, Tompkins was kayaking with five friends—Lorenzo Alvarez (founder of Bio Bio Expeditions), Weston Boyles (head of Rios to Rivers), Yvon Chouinard (founder of Patagonia), Jib Ellison (CEO of sustainability firm Blu Skye), and climber and Patagonia vice president Rick Ridgeway—when the accident occurred. After being rescued by the Chilean Navy, which mobilized boats and helicopters, Tompkins was flown to Coyhaique Regional Hospital where he passed away from severe hypothermia. No one else in Tompkins’ kayaking party suffered serious injury.
Tompkins was born in Conneaut, Ohio in 1943. His family eventually settled in Millbrook, New York, in the Hudson River Valley, where he learned how to climb in the Shawangunk Mountains. A high school dropout who never went to college, Tompkins made his way west and launched two iconic American clothing companies while in his 20s.
His original "North Face" store in North Beach, San Francisco, was decorated in old barn wood and green carpet, and the store combined backpacking, skiing, and climbing gear. Tompkins sold his share of the North Face in 1969, long before it became the global company that it is today.
In 1964 Tompkins married a gal who he met while hitchhiking near Lake Tahoe and in 1967 the couple founded Esprit. By 1986, Esprit had reached $800 million in sales and in a 1989 divorce, he took a settlement for his share and started acquiring land in Chile.
Tompkins fell in love with Patagonia in the early 1960s during a backpacking trip through South America. On one now-legendary 1968 foray south, memorialized in the classic film Mountain of Storms, Tompkins and a group of buddies, including Chouinard, dubbed themselves "The Fun hogs" and climbed the 6,401-foot-tall Fitz Roy, Patagonia's signature mountain in the Southern Patagonia Ice field, which had only been climbed twice before.
Doug left the business world in 1989 and began dedicating himself to environmental activism and land conservation by conserving over 2 million acres of wilderness in Chile and Argentina. Eventually, he went on to become one of the the largest private land-owners in the world focusing his efforts on park creation, wildlife recovery, ecological activism and saving biodiversity.
In 1991 Tompkins bought his first property in Patagonia and at his death, Tompkins owned more than two million acres in South America through various foundations. His goal was to ultimately create 12 national parks, four of which have already been gifted to the Chilean and Argentine governments. His holdings include the 726,488-acre Pumalín Park, the world’s largest private nature reserve.
“The greatest legacy he will leave all of us was in South America,” says Peter Metcalf, the founder and CEO of Black Diamond Equipment. “There, he used his guts, leadership, vision, Herculean energy, and the vast majority of his wealth to create a system of national parks and wilderness areas in Chile and Argentina that rivals that of Yellowstone and the Tetons.”
With a reputation as an uncompromising conservationist, Tompkins’s views were not always popular in South America.
“He was someone coming from another country with property that covers one edge to another edge in Chile,” says Jorge Moller, a longtime Chilean conservationist and founder of Darwin’s Trails travel company. “At the beginning, people didn’t trust him, but he never did anything against Chile, he never did anything against his plans for conservation.”
The founder of the environmental nonprofit Foundation For Deep Ecology, Tompkins’ mission was to “support education and advocacy on behalf of wild nature.” Believing that national parks were the “best expression of social equity that there is,” his vision to expand South America’s national park system echoes that of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt’s vision for the United States.
“I cannot think of another individual in history who has privately financed and engineered the creation of national parks and protected areas on the scale of Yosemite or Yellowstone National Parks,” says James Sano, the World Wildlife Fund's Vice President for Travel, Tourism and Conservation.
“Doug was the complete man—original thinker, world-class climber and kayaker, pilot, hugely successful businessman, designer, ecological visionary, and ornery S.O.B.,” his friend Tom Brokaw said. The former NBC News anchor recalls that Tompkins pursued his hobbies and ideas with equal ardor. “We kayaked through the Russian Far East together and climbed a glacier route on Mt Rainier—and through it all, he never stopped lecturing me on deep ecology.”
“I was in awe of him,” Brokaw added.
As Tompkins told Outside in an interview in Puerto Varas, Chile, in October, “I’m an unabashed, shameless conservationist. I know everyone doesn’t have my resources, but I say don’t worry, do things to the best of your ability because you’ll find it rewarding and helpful and it’s paying rent for living on the planet. So just do it. Just do it.”
Doug is survived by his wife, two daughters, his mother and brother
According to a Patagonia Park employee, Tompkins was kayaking with five friends—Lorenzo Alvarez (founder of Bio Bio Expeditions), Weston Boyles (head of Rios to Rivers), Yvon Chouinard (founder of Patagonia), Jib Ellison (CEO of sustainability firm Blu Skye), and climber and Patagonia vice president Rick Ridgeway—when the accident occurred. After being rescued by the Chilean Navy, which mobilized boats and helicopters, Tompkins was flown to Coyhaique Regional Hospital where he passed away from severe hypothermia. No one else in Tompkins’ kayaking party suffered serious injury.
Tompkins was born in Conneaut, Ohio in 1943. His family eventually settled in Millbrook, New York, in the Hudson River Valley, where he learned how to climb in the Shawangunk Mountains. A high school dropout who never went to college, Tompkins made his way west and launched two iconic American clothing companies while in his 20s.
His original "North Face" store in North Beach, San Francisco, was decorated in old barn wood and green carpet, and the store combined backpacking, skiing, and climbing gear. Tompkins sold his share of the North Face in 1969, long before it became the global company that it is today.
In 1964 Tompkins married a gal who he met while hitchhiking near Lake Tahoe and in 1967 the couple founded Esprit. By 1986, Esprit had reached $800 million in sales and in a 1989 divorce, he took a settlement for his share and started acquiring land in Chile.
Tompkins fell in love with Patagonia in the early 1960s during a backpacking trip through South America. On one now-legendary 1968 foray south, memorialized in the classic film Mountain of Storms, Tompkins and a group of buddies, including Chouinard, dubbed themselves "The Fun hogs" and climbed the 6,401-foot-tall Fitz Roy, Patagonia's signature mountain in the Southern Patagonia Ice field, which had only been climbed twice before.
Doug left the business world in 1989 and began dedicating himself to environmental activism and land conservation by conserving over 2 million acres of wilderness in Chile and Argentina. Eventually, he went on to become one of the the largest private land-owners in the world focusing his efforts on park creation, wildlife recovery, ecological activism and saving biodiversity.
In 1991 Tompkins bought his first property in Patagonia and at his death, Tompkins owned more than two million acres in South America through various foundations. His goal was to ultimately create 12 national parks, four of which have already been gifted to the Chilean and Argentine governments. His holdings include the 726,488-acre Pumalín Park, the world’s largest private nature reserve.
“The greatest legacy he will leave all of us was in South America,” says Peter Metcalf, the founder and CEO of Black Diamond Equipment. “There, he used his guts, leadership, vision, Herculean energy, and the vast majority of his wealth to create a system of national parks and wilderness areas in Chile and Argentina that rivals that of Yellowstone and the Tetons.”
With a reputation as an uncompromising conservationist, Tompkins’s views were not always popular in South America.
“He was someone coming from another country with property that covers one edge to another edge in Chile,” says Jorge Moller, a longtime Chilean conservationist and founder of Darwin’s Trails travel company. “At the beginning, people didn’t trust him, but he never did anything against Chile, he never did anything against his plans for conservation.”
The founder of the environmental nonprofit Foundation For Deep Ecology, Tompkins’ mission was to “support education and advocacy on behalf of wild nature.” Believing that national parks were the “best expression of social equity that there is,” his vision to expand South America’s national park system echoes that of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt’s vision for the United States.
“I cannot think of another individual in history who has privately financed and engineered the creation of national parks and protected areas on the scale of Yosemite or Yellowstone National Parks,” says James Sano, the World Wildlife Fund's Vice President for Travel, Tourism and Conservation.
“Doug was the complete man—original thinker, world-class climber and kayaker, pilot, hugely successful businessman, designer, ecological visionary, and ornery S.O.B.,” his friend Tom Brokaw said. The former NBC News anchor recalls that Tompkins pursued his hobbies and ideas with equal ardor. “We kayaked through the Russian Far East together and climbed a glacier route on Mt Rainier—and through it all, he never stopped lecturing me on deep ecology.”
“I was in awe of him,” Brokaw added.
As Tompkins told Outside in an interview in Puerto Varas, Chile, in October, “I’m an unabashed, shameless conservationist. I know everyone doesn’t have my resources, but I say don’t worry, do things to the best of your ability because you’ll find it rewarding and helpful and it’s paying rent for living on the planet. So just do it. Just do it.”
Doug is survived by his wife, two daughters, his mother and brother
Doug grew up in Millbrook, New York but headed west at 17 to ski race and climb. In 1964, he founded The North Face to make and sell outdoor equipment. A few years later, he headed south on a road trip to Patagonia to climb Mt. Fitzroy, surfing, skiing, and climbing along the way, an adventure documented in the film Mountain of Storms. Upon returning, he co-founded Esprit clothing company with his first wife, Susie. Under their leadership, Esprit grew into a multinational company with over $1 billion in sales. In the late 1980s, he became increasingly interested in environmental activism (and disenchanted with promoting a consumer culture), leading him to sell his share of Esprit. He created the Foundation for Deep Ecology, and soon afterwards moved to south Chile to focus on conservation. Doug passed away on December 8th, 2015 while kayaking with friends on Chile’s Lago General Carrera. Kris, the Tompkins’ foundations, and our partners are committed to completing all original conservation projects.∼Douglas Rainsford Tompkins, the founder of two outdoors gear and apparel companies, North Face and Esprit, died on Tuesday of severe hypothermia after a kayaking accident in Chile. Gusting winds and the resulting waves, some as high as nine feet, overturned his kayak on Lake General Carrera, a 714-square-mile lake separating Chile from Argentina. The lake is north of Patagonia Park, a 200,000-acre former sheep ranch that Tompkins and his wife, were rebuilding in an effort to create a national park.
According to a Patagonia Park employee, Tompkins was kayaking with five friends—Lorenzo Alvarez (founder of Bio Bio Expeditions), Weston Boyles (head of Rios to Rivers), Yvon Chouinard (founder of Patagonia), Jib Ellison (CEO of sustainability firm Blu Skye), and climber and Patagonia vice president Rick Ridgeway—when the accident occurred. After being rescued by the Chilean Navy, which mobilized boats and helicopters, Tompkins was flown to Coyhaique Regional Hospital where he passed away from severe hypothermia. No one else in Tompkins’ kayaking party suffered serious injury.
Tompkins was born in Conneaut, Ohio in 1943. His family eventually settled in Millbrook, New York, in the Hudson River Valley, where he learned how to climb in the Shawangunk Mountains. A high school dropout who never went to college, Tompkins made his way west and launched two iconic American clothing companies while in his 20s.
His original "North Face" store in North Beach, San Francisco, was decorated in old barn wood and green carpet, and the store combined backpacking, skiing, and climbing gear. Tompkins sold his share of the North Face in 1969, long before it became the global company that it is today.
In 1964 Tompkins married a gal who he met while hitchhiking near Lake Tahoe and in 1967 the couple founded Esprit. By 1986, Esprit had reached $800 million in sales and in a 1989 divorce, he took a settlement for his share and started acquiring land in Chile.
Tompkins fell in love with Patagonia in the early 1960s during a backpacking trip through South America. On one now-legendary 1968 foray south, memorialized in the classic film Mountain of Storms, Tompkins and a group of buddies, including Chouinard, dubbed themselves "The Fun hogs" and climbed the 6,401-foot-tall Fitz Roy, Patagonia's signature mountain in the Southern Patagonia Ice field, which had only been climbed twice before.
Doug left the business world in 1989 and began dedicating himself to environmental activism and land conservation by conserving over 2 million acres of wilderness in Chile and Argentina. Eventually, he went on to become one of the the largest private land-owners in the world focusing his efforts on park creation, wildlife recovery, ecological activism and saving biodiversity.
In 1991 Tompkins bought his first property in Patagonia and at his death, Tompkins owned more than two million acres in South America through various foundations. His goal was to ultimately create 12 national parks, four of which have already been gifted to the Chilean and Argentine governments. His holdings include the 726,488-acre Pumalín Park, the world’s largest private nature reserve.
“The greatest legacy he will leave all of us was in South America,” says Peter Metcalf, the founder and CEO of Black Diamond Equipment. “There, he used his guts, leadership, vision, Herculean energy, and the vast majority of his wealth to create a system of national parks and wilderness areas in Chile and Argentina that rivals that of Yellowstone and the Tetons.”
With a reputation as an uncompromising conservationist, Tompkins’s views were not always popular in South America.
“He was someone coming from another country with property that covers one edge to another edge in Chile,” says Jorge Moller, a longtime Chilean conservationist and founder of Darwin’s Trails travel company. “At the beginning, people didn’t trust him, but he never did anything against Chile, he never did anything against his plans for conservation.”
The founder of the environmental nonprofit Foundation For Deep Ecology, Tompkins’ mission was to “support education and advocacy on behalf of wild nature.” Believing that national parks were the “best expression of social equity that there is,” his vision to expand South America’s national park system echoes that of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt’s vision for the United States.
“I cannot think of another individual in history who has privately financed and engineered the creation of national parks and protected areas on the scale of Yosemite or Yellowstone National Parks,” says James Sano, the World Wildlife Fund's Vice President for Travel, Tourism and Conservation.
“Doug was the complete man—original thinker, world-class climber and kayaker, pilot, hugely successful businessman, designer, ecological visionary, and ornery S.O.B.,” his friend Tom Brokaw said. The former NBC News anchor recalls that Tompkins pursued his hobbies and ideas with equal ardor. “We kayaked through the Russian Far East together and climbed a glacier route on Mt Rainier—and through it all, he never stopped lecturing me on deep ecology.”
“I was in awe of him,” Brokaw added.
As Tompkins told Outside in an interview in Puerto Varas, Chile, in October, “I’m an unabashed, shameless conservationist. I know everyone doesn’t have my resources, but I say don’t worry, do things to the best of your ability because you’ll find it rewarding and helpful and it’s paying rent for living on the planet. So just do it. Just do it.”
Doug is survived by his wife, two daughters, his mother and brother
According to a Patagonia Park employee, Tompkins was kayaking with five friends—Lorenzo Alvarez (founder of Bio Bio Expeditions), Weston Boyles (head of Rios to Rivers), Yvon Chouinard (founder of Patagonia), Jib Ellison (CEO of sustainability firm Blu Skye), and climber and Patagonia vice president Rick Ridgeway—when the accident occurred. After being rescued by the Chilean Navy, which mobilized boats and helicopters, Tompkins was flown to Coyhaique Regional Hospital where he passed away from severe hypothermia. No one else in Tompkins’ kayaking party suffered serious injury.
Tompkins was born in Conneaut, Ohio in 1943. His family eventually settled in Millbrook, New York, in the Hudson River Valley, where he learned how to climb in the Shawangunk Mountains. A high school dropout who never went to college, Tompkins made his way west and launched two iconic American clothing companies while in his 20s.
His original "North Face" store in North Beach, San Francisco, was decorated in old barn wood and green carpet, and the store combined backpacking, skiing, and climbing gear. Tompkins sold his share of the North Face in 1969, long before it became the global company that it is today.
In 1964 Tompkins married a gal who he met while hitchhiking near Lake Tahoe and in 1967 the couple founded Esprit. By 1986, Esprit had reached $800 million in sales and in a 1989 divorce, he took a settlement for his share and started acquiring land in Chile.
Tompkins fell in love with Patagonia in the early 1960s during a backpacking trip through South America. On one now-legendary 1968 foray south, memorialized in the classic film Mountain of Storms, Tompkins and a group of buddies, including Chouinard, dubbed themselves "The Fun hogs" and climbed the 6,401-foot-tall Fitz Roy, Patagonia's signature mountain in the Southern Patagonia Ice field, which had only been climbed twice before.
Doug left the business world in 1989 and began dedicating himself to environmental activism and land conservation by conserving over 2 million acres of wilderness in Chile and Argentina. Eventually, he went on to become one of the the largest private land-owners in the world focusing his efforts on park creation, wildlife recovery, ecological activism and saving biodiversity.
In 1991 Tompkins bought his first property in Patagonia and at his death, Tompkins owned more than two million acres in South America through various foundations. His goal was to ultimately create 12 national parks, four of which have already been gifted to the Chilean and Argentine governments. His holdings include the 726,488-acre Pumalín Park, the world’s largest private nature reserve.
“The greatest legacy he will leave all of us was in South America,” says Peter Metcalf, the founder and CEO of Black Diamond Equipment. “There, he used his guts, leadership, vision, Herculean energy, and the vast majority of his wealth to create a system of national parks and wilderness areas in Chile and Argentina that rivals that of Yellowstone and the Tetons.”
With a reputation as an uncompromising conservationist, Tompkins’s views were not always popular in South America.
“He was someone coming from another country with property that covers one edge to another edge in Chile,” says Jorge Moller, a longtime Chilean conservationist and founder of Darwin’s Trails travel company. “At the beginning, people didn’t trust him, but he never did anything against Chile, he never did anything against his plans for conservation.”
The founder of the environmental nonprofit Foundation For Deep Ecology, Tompkins’ mission was to “support education and advocacy on behalf of wild nature.” Believing that national parks were the “best expression of social equity that there is,” his vision to expand South America’s national park system echoes that of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt’s vision for the United States.
“I cannot think of another individual in history who has privately financed and engineered the creation of national parks and protected areas on the scale of Yosemite or Yellowstone National Parks,” says James Sano, the World Wildlife Fund's Vice President for Travel, Tourism and Conservation.
“Doug was the complete man—original thinker, world-class climber and kayaker, pilot, hugely successful businessman, designer, ecological visionary, and ornery S.O.B.,” his friend Tom Brokaw said. The former NBC News anchor recalls that Tompkins pursued his hobbies and ideas with equal ardor. “We kayaked through the Russian Far East together and climbed a glacier route on Mt Rainier—and through it all, he never stopped lecturing me on deep ecology.”
“I was in awe of him,” Brokaw added.
As Tompkins told Outside in an interview in Puerto Varas, Chile, in October, “I’m an unabashed, shameless conservationist. I know everyone doesn’t have my resources, but I say don’t worry, do things to the best of your ability because you’ll find it rewarding and helpful and it’s paying rent for living on the planet. So just do it. Just do it.”
Doug is survived by his wife, two daughters, his mother and brother
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