The North Face Founder and Former Hudson Valley Resident Dies at 72

The Poughkeepsie Journal is reporting that Douglas Tompkins, co-founder of The North Face and Esprit clothing companies, has died at 72.

The former Millbrook resident died Tuesday from severe hypothermia he suffered in a kayaking accident in the Patagonia region of southern Chile. He was taken to a hospital in the town of Coyhaique, where he later died in the intensive care unit.

The 1961 graduate of Millbrook High School was a passionate conservationist and environmentalist. After retiring in 1989, Tompkins spent a lot of time in Chile and Argentina, even owning thousands of acres of land in the Patagonia region.

Tompkins created Pumalin Park on the land he owned in Chile - 716,606 acres of forest, lakes and fjords stretching from the Andes to the Pacific.