See Photos. Doug Tompkins, the co-founder of The North Face and Esprit clothing lines, died Tuesday while kayaking in Patagonia, Chile. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Douglas Rainsford Tompkins (March 20, 1943 December 8, 2015) was an American businessman, conservationist, outdoorsman, philanthropist, filmmaker, and agriculturalist. He co-founded North Face in 1964. Never Stop Exploring was the company mantra. The Brazilian government has started evicting illegal gold miners, responsible for the health emergency that has hit the Yanomami people. Land use is highly political here, more than most places: If we wanted to retire in peace we wouldn't be here. [32], Tompkins' environmental work won him respect and accolades outside of South America: in 2012, the African Rainforest Conservancy awarded Tompkins and his wife its "New Species Award";[33] in 2007, the International Conservation Caucus Foundation awarded its "Good Steward" award to him and his wife, Kris;[34] in 2008, the American Alpine Club awarded him the David R. Brower Award, for his work preserving mountain regions; in 2009, Latin Trade named him the "Environmental Leader of the Year". [21] Through creating public-access infrastructure, including trails, campgrounds, visitor centers, and a restaurant, Tompkins sought to promote wilderness experience, in hopes of inspiring a deeper environmental ethic in the park's many thousands of visitors. Douglas Tompkins, famed environmentalist and co-founder of The North Face, died on Tuesday after a kayaking accident in the Patagonia region of southern Chile. The Conservation Land Trust (a U.S. environmental foundation) donated these protected lands to Fundacin Pumaln (a Chilean foundation), for their administration and continual development as a type of National Park with public access under a private initiative. Iber Provincial Reserve, established in 1983, encompasses 1,300,000 ha of wetlands, grasslands, forest, and rangelands, including both publicly-owned lands and private cattle ranches. It set the course for what we were going to do later in life., In his autobiography Let My People Go Surfing, Chouinard credits Tompkins with introducing him to whitewater kayaking and with mentoring him at a critical time in his companys life. [20] The Tompkinses' conservation efforts focused on preserving wild landscapes and biodiversity. The kayak capsized and Tompkins fell into the icy water. "It's almost as if we've had a subconscious wish to invite catastrophe so we can try to get out of it. We are the ones who keep putting obstacles in our own way by buying more land. He was 72. They were on the fourth day of what was supposed to be an easy five-day paddle around the north side of Lake General Carrera, the vast turquoise-watered glacial lake which straddles the border of Argentina and Chile. At the time of his death, Tompkins was in the process of working with the Chilean government to convert the rest of the land into an additional seven parks. In 1968, Tompkins headed off on a six-month road-adventure trip from California to Patagonia, along with Yvon Chouinard, Dick Dorworth, and Chris Jones (calling themselves the "Fun Hogs"), who made the third ascent of Mount Fitz Roy in Patagonia in 1968. As a teenager, he got kicked out of his Connecticut prep school and took off for South America to train with the U.S. ski team. Pumaln Park was one of Tompkins earliest acquisitions. https://t.co/VsAWellWAv, The North Face EMEA (@TheNorthFaceEU) 9 Dicembre 2015. He had assembled and preserved the land which became the largest gift of private land to any South American government. Tompkins designed tents that were some of the first to avoid a pole in the middle, by using bendable rods threaded through exterior sleeves instead. After his divorce, he climbed Mount Fitz Roy in Patagonia, an experience that he said helped inspire him to become an environmental activist in the area. To the group sitting in their sea kayaks, only millimeters from the water, the waves must have looked like mountains. These parks are our life's work, not the clothing chains we created, selling people clothes they don't need. The story of the Ukraine crisis as told by men, women, and soldiers. Dont worry, we'll only contact you about activism here. Tompkins, who co-founded North Face and Esprit, died in the ecological empyrean of Patagonia that he had sought to protect after cashing out of his life in America and moving to South America. Mr. Tompkins, who also co-founded Esprit with his then-wife, Susie Tompkins Buell, capsized while paddling with five other people on General Carrera Lake in the Patagonia region, according to reports confirmed by North Face officials. Also known as Dwight L Thompson, L Douglas, Dwan L Thompson. Web SpecialsSave on Gear for Your Next Trip, Remembering The North Face Founder Douglas Tompkins. A lifelong outdoorsman, Mr. Tompkins made his fortune in retailing but later shunned the business world to pursue his passion for nature and conservationism. man. [39][40] He was 72 years old and survived by his second wife, Kristine (McDivitt), two daughters, brother and mother.[13][41]. In the churning water, Tompkins and Ridgeway capsized. Concerned about the environmental impact? Read more on these topics: Americas, Latin America, South America, Outdoor. Douglas Tompkins died at the age of 72, on the 8th of December: billionaire, ecologist and co-founder of The North Face, renowned outdoor apparel brand. His daughter, Quincey Tompkins Imhoff, of Healdsburg, remembered a time as a girl when her father landed a small plane on a remote beach in Baja California only to notice later that the tide was rolling in and covering the wheels. Mr. Tompkins attended Pomfret School in Connecticut but never graduated and did not attend college, said Tom Butler, a spokesman for the Foundation for Deep Ecology, which Mr. Tompkins founded in 1990. Each farm pays close attention to developing sustainable practices.[31]. That trip's holy grail was Mount Fitz Roy, a 11,000-foot rock tower in Argentina where they were trapped by storms. The global apparel company VF Corporation purchased the North Face in 2000. When the storms finally cleared, they made the first ascent of the now-classic California Route, with Tompkins yelling repeatedly at Tejada-Flores, their designated cameraman, "Hey, Fellini, how about getting some footage?" If we have any hope of a thriving planetmuch less a businessit is going to take all of us doing what we can with the resources we have. Woman Funded Sexual Harassment Cases Against Trump", "Meet one of Hillary Clinton's biggest donors in California. Douglas Rainsford Tompkins was born on March 20, 1943, in Ohio. He founded the North Face Inc, co-founded Esprit and various environmental groups, including the Foundation for Deep Ecology and Tompkins Conservation. The following year, he married longtime Patagonia CEO Kristine McDivitt, who helped him found the land trust Conservacion Patagonica in 2000. This is a guy who was a world class mountaineer, multiple first ascents on many continents and multiple first descents as a whitewater kayaker. Well also keep you informed of exclusive offers, activism updates, special events and more. The path was not always smooth, however. Doug Tompkins passed away doing the very thing he loved, and he will be remembered as one of the most important characters in environmental activism and ecology our generation has ever known. Tompkins sold The North Face with the intention of a focus on adventure film making.[13]. Tompkins also became a skilled whitewater kayaker, claiming first descents of rivers in California, Africa, and South America. With all eyes currently fixed on the war in Ukraine, Paralympians competing in Beijing can show us the bright side of international cooperation. Who was Douglas Tompkins, the founder of The North Face, Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered, Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 4.0 Internazionale. When he wasnt able to get the right seeds for tree restoration in nearby nurseries, he opened his own. Ridgeway grabbed a loop of rope on one of the other kayaks and was pulled to shore. Nov 2007 - Present15 years 3 months. Three members of the group were reportedly rescued by a military patrol boat while a helicopter lifted out the other three. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. We are all shocked, though in some way, he was doing what he loved, enjoying nature.. Mr. Tompkins was born in Ohio in 1943 and grew up in Millbrook, N.Y. A ski racer, rock climber and alpinist with several first ascents to his credit, he founded the California Mountaineering Guide Service in 1963. Management Consultant. Ahead of the trip, Tompkins, 72, had described the planned 30km paddle with his longtime buddies as just for old times sake, to keep our hand in there and get a little bit of muscle tone.. The company co-founder, who died last week in a kayaking accident, was an outdoorsman and environmentalist who launched two billion-dollar businesses. (Tompkins, Dorworth, Jones and Chouinard in 1968. The kayak capsized and Tompkins fell into the icy water. [24], Led by Tompkins, the Conservation Land Trust acquired 150,000 hectares of old cattle ranches bordering the provincial park, including habitats not then represented in the park. 11. We want to do something good, but youve got to be very nave and out to lunch to think that certain sectors of society are not going to put up resistance, Mr. Tompkins told The New York Times. The threat of a Russian invasion has changed the lives of Ukraines people. Susie Tompkins Buell (ne Russell; born 1943)[2] is an American entrepreneur, businesswoman and a donor to progressive causes. She, her sister and the other passengers were told to sit on the tail wing to give the plane traction and then jump off as the plane caught air. Soon enough, he came back and landed and everything was fine. He flew airplanes, he climbed to the top of mountains all over the world, said his daughter Summer Tompkins Walker. Please read this powerful piece, Douglas Tompkins: A Force for Nature, to learn about his legacy. Everything we make has an impact on people and the planet. The North Face founder Doug Tompkins poses for a photograph with Jeff Johnson and Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard during the filming of the documentary 180 Degrees South in Chile. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. He already loved Chile and Argentina, from all his trips to Patagonia, and land there was cheap, so he and Kristine a former Patagonia CEO who Tompkins married in 1993 began acquiring immense swaths of it. "We just weren't prepared," Chouinard admits now. They divorced in 1989. Tompkins appointed himself "image director", developing his own marketing approach: overseeing all aspects of the company's image, from store design to catalogue layout, while his wife served as design director. He began rock climbing at age 12 in the Shawangunk Mountains in southern New York State; by 15 he was skiing and climbing mountains during family trips to Wyoming, according to the 2009 book Eco Barons: The Dreamers, Schemers, and Millionaires Who Are Saving Our Planet.. Please read this powerful piece, " Douglas Tompkins: A Force for Nature ," to learn about his legacy. 3. He died from hypothermia at a nearby hospital. Around the lake, mountains rise up on all sides forming a highly variable microclimate the weather can turn from sunny and calm to snowing with gale-force winds in a matter of hours. San Francisco socialite Summer Tompkins Walker, the daughter of North Face and Esprit co-founder Douglas Tompkins, has lost another bruising round in her battle to claim a portion of her late . With a deep bond to Patagonia and Chile, Tompkins dedicated his life to nature and environmental conservation, inspired by the book Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered. Douglas Tompkins and his wife Kristine pose in the front of their house at the estate "Rincon del Socorro" in Ibera, near Carlos Pellegrini in Corrientes Province, Argentina, on November 5, 2009. Douglas Thompson. The husband and wife team also donated land to create coastal national parks in Chile and Argentina. 'Zero visibility' conditions: All roads to Tahoe are closed, One of the largest movie theaters in SF to close permanently, Report: Matthew McConaughey has a massive Salesforce paycheck, 'Really cool sight': Rare waterspout forms in Northern California, A different horse': Bay Area will likely continue to see rain, Man shot dead near San Francisco Ferry Building, My meal at this landmark SF spot was too expensive to be so bad, 'Lady in the fridge' murder victim ID'd as Bay Area mother of 3, Buster Posey has weak answer on Giants owner's politics, Avalanche slams into Tahoe apartment building amid blizzard, These East Bay gems are a haven for music lovers, What it looks like inside Coit Towers former apartment. The other three parks in Chile and Argentina and was pulled to shore two billion-dollar businesses who died week... Where they were trapped by storms group sitting in their sea kayaks, only millimeters from the water, North. 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