SANTIAGO, CHILE — Environmental protection advocates in South America lost a staunch ally on Tuesday when the conservationist founder of the North Face and Esprit clothing brands died while kayaking on a lake in southern Chile.
Douglas Tompkins, 72, was kayaking with friends across General Carrera Lake in Patagonia when a strong wave overturned the group's boats. Tompkins developed hypothermia in the cold water, Reuters reported. Tompkins' body temperature was critically low at 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit) when he was pulled out of the lake.
A helicopter and military patrol boat rescued all six kayakers, but by then Tompkins had already been in the icy water for a "considerable amount of time," reported the New York Times.
Tompkins later died in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Coyhaique, a town south of Santiago. No one else in the party was seriously injured.
Tompkins leaves behind a legacy beyond the two clothing brands, after using his huge fortune to convert millions of acres of land in Patagonia into national parks.
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