Doug Tompkins, the co-founder of outerwear company The North Face, has died following a kayaking accident in Chile, according to a division of that country's Ministry of Health. He was 72 years old.
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.
Servicio de Salud Aysen, a branch of the Ministry of Health, said Tompkins died of severe hypothermia after being admitted into Coyhaique Regional Hospital with a body temperature of 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit, well below the normal 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 37 degrees Celsius).
[Comunicado de prensa] Fallecimiento Douglas Tompkins en @HospitalCoyhaiq pic.twitter.com/UuEVcRrsqT— SaludAysen (@SaludAysen) December 8, 2015
Though three of the other kayakers made it safely to land, Tompkins and two others remained in the water until officials from the Chilean Navy arrived to rescue them, according to news reports. Tompkins was transported by helicopter to the hospital.
“In these extremely serious cases of hypothermia, survival is very rare,” Carlos Salazar, director of the hospital’s emergency unit, told Chilean news site EMOL.
Jorge Tarud, a Chilean politician who oversees the district that General Carrera Lake is in, offered his condolences to the Tompkins family.
Tomkins acaba de fallecer.Triste final. Condolencias a su familia.— JorgeTarud (@JorgeTarud) December 8, 2015
He had cofounded The North Face in 1966 in San Francisco and two years later clothing company Esprit. He left the business world in 1989 and dedicated himself to conservationist efforts. In the early 1990s, he began buying land in Chile, in hopes of preserving it, though his efforts werecriticized by local environmentalists who feared the possibility of ulterior motives. He owned more than a million acres of land in Chile and Argentina.
Just last month, Tompkins was interviewed by Outside Magazine, which called him the "21st century Teddy Roosevelt."
The North Face has not immediately responded to Mashable's request for comment, but did pay tribute to Tompkins on Instagram.
We are all deeply saddened by the news of Doug Tompkins’ passing. Doug was special to many of us. He founded The North Face in 1966 as a small ski and backpacking retail and mail order operation in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood. 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. He most recently visited our headquarters in Alameda, CA in 2013 and again inspired us to live a life of outdoor exploration. He will be missed. A photo posted by The North Face (@thenorthface) on Dec 8, 2015 at 5:11pm PST
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