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Douglas Tompkins, co-founder of North Face, dies after Chile kayak accident

theguardian.com

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Re: Douglas Tompkins, co-founder of North Face, dies after Chile kayak accident

#3

Post by DrScump »

deadowl wrote: post #2

Weird that a guy with the know-hows to prepare for such a situation didn't survive.

That's unduly harsh. His kayak went over in high winds, according to the article; he wasn't planning an extended swim.

Given that he died six hours after reaching the hospital, I wonder if their expertise with modern hypothermia treatment was adequate.

Re: Douglas Tompkins, co-founder of North Face, dies after Chile kayak accident

#4

Post by fdovila »

DrScump wrote: post #3
deadowl wrote: post #2

Weird that a guy with the know-hows to prepare for such a situation didn't survive.

That's unduly harsh. His kayak went over in high winds, according to the article; he wasn't planning an extended swim. Given that he died six hours after reaching the hospital, I wonder if their expertise with modern hypothermia treatment was adequate.

Indeed, old-school hypothermia is so much easier to treat.

Re: Douglas Tompkins, co-founder of North Face, dies after Chile kayak accident

#5

Post by reustle »

Such a shame. I first learned about him and his work in 180 South [1], which really made me appreciate what he was doing to create and protect the park. Definitely worth a watch. It was actually one of my life goals to learn Spanish so that I would be eligible to go down and volunteer with him. Here's hoping the conservation effort stays strong.

[1] http://m.imdb.com/title/tt1407927/

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