Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Business Acquisition Business Acquisition (Narrative) (Details)

v2.4.1.9
Business Acquisition Business Acquisition (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Mar. 31, 2014
Jun. 30, 2014
Dec. 31, 2014
May 30, 2014
Business Acquisition [Line Items]          
Net sales $ 478,982,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet $ 424,084,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet      
Amortization of acquired prAna net assets 1,287,000us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets 333,000us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets      
Goodwill 68,594,000us-gaap_Goodwill 14,438,000us-gaap_Goodwill   68,594,000us-gaap_Goodwill  
prAna Living LLC [Member]          
Business Acquisition [Line Items]          
Business Acquisition, Percentage of Voting Interests Acquired         100.00%us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionPercentageOfVotingInterestsAcquired
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= colm_PrAnaLivingLLCMember
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Net of Cash Acquired     188,467,000us-gaap_BusinessCombinationConsiderationTransferred1
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= colm_PrAnaLivingLLCMember 		   
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Cash and Equivalents         4,946,000us-gaap_BusinessCombinationRecognizedIdentifiableAssetsAcquiredAndLiabilitiesAssumedCashAndEquivalents
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= colm_PrAnaLivingLLCMember
Net sales 37,094,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= colm_PrAnaLivingLLCMember 		       
Net income from prAna 3,666,000us-gaap_IncomeLossFromSubsidiariesNetOfTax
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= colm_PrAnaLivingLLCMember 		       
Amortization of acquired prAna net assets 954,000us-gaap_AmortizationOfIntangibleAssets
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= colm_PrAnaLivingLLCMember 		       
Goodwill         $ 54,156,000us-gaap_Goodwill
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= colm_PrAnaLivingLLCMember