Douglas Tompkins Dies in boating Accident Douglas Tompkins, 72, the renowned conservationist and co-founder of The North Face, died on Tuesday in a kayaking accident in Lake General Carrera, on the Chilean side of Patagonia. He reportedly capsized in the water and suffered severe hypothermia. Tompkins is perhaps most famous for founding The North Face, then a mail order operation, in 1964. A climbing and backpacking enthusiast from the San Francisco Bay Area, Tompkins was friends with another outdoor enthusiast-turned-retailer,…