Early Life
Tompkins was born in Ohio on March 20, 1943, the son of an antiques dealer and decorator. He spent the first few years of his life in New York City before his family moved to Millbrook, NY. He graduated from Indian Mountain School, a pre-prep school in Lakeville, CT, in 1957. In his senior year at Pomfret School in Connecticut, Tompkins was expelled for various minor infractions. He returned to his hometown in Millbrook, NY, but did not graduate from high school.
Tompkins spent the years between 1960 and 1962 ski racing and rock climbing in Colorado, Europe and South America. In 1963, Tompkins founded the California Mountaineering Guide Service. It was during this time he met Susie, who would later become his wife, while hitch-hiking in California.
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