Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Segment Information (Schedule Of Segment Information) (Details)

v2.4.1.9
Segment Information (Schedule Of Segment Information) (Details) (USD $)
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
GeographicSegments
Mar. 31, 2014
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]    
Number of operating segments 4us-gaap_NumberOfOperatingSegments  
Net sales to unrelated entities $ 478,982,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet $ 424,084,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet
Income (loss) from operations 44,122,000us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss 35,451,000us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
Interest income, net 377,000us-gaap_InterestIncomeExpenseNonoperatingNet 239,000us-gaap_InterestIncomeExpenseNonoperatingNet
Related party interest expense on note payable (274,000)us-gaap_InterestExpenseRelatedParty (210,000)us-gaap_InterestExpenseRelatedParty
Other non-operating income (expense) (2,196,000)us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingIncomeExpense (356,000)us-gaap_OtherNonoperatingIncomeExpense
Income before income tax 42,029,000us-gaap_IncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeIncomeTaxesMinorityInterestAndIncomeLossFromEquityMethodInvestments 35,124,000us-gaap_IncomeLossFromContinuingOperationsBeforeIncomeTaxesMinorityInterestAndIncomeLossFromEquityMethodInvestments
United States [Member]    
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]    
Net sales to unrelated entities 283,760,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= colm_UnitedStatesMember
241,189,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= colm_UnitedStatesMember
Income (loss) from operations 52,816,000us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= colm_UnitedStatesMember
44,171,000us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= colm_UnitedStatesMember
LAAP [Member]    
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]    
Net sales to unrelated entities 113,062,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= colm_LatinAmericaAndAsiaPacificMember
116,813,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= colm_LatinAmericaAndAsiaPacificMember
Income (loss) from operations 15,352,000us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= colm_LatinAmericaAndAsiaPacificMember
17,234,000us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= colm_LatinAmericaAndAsiaPacificMember
EMEA [Member]    
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]    
Net sales to unrelated entities 47,825,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= colm_EuropeMiddleEastAndAfricaMember
39,140,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= colm_EuropeMiddleEastAndAfricaMember
Income (loss) from operations 1,365,000us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= colm_EuropeMiddleEastAndAfricaMember
(3,526,000)us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= colm_EuropeMiddleEastAndAfricaMember
Canada [Member]    
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]    
Net sales to unrelated entities 34,335,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= colm_CanadaMember
26,942,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= colm_CanadaMember
Income (loss) from operations 6,300,000us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= colm_CanadaMember
3,399,000us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= colm_CanadaMember
Operating Segments [Member]    
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]    
Income (loss) from operations 75,833,000us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= us-gaap_OperatingSegmentsMember
61,278,000us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= us-gaap_OperatingSegmentsMember
Corporate, Non-Segment [Member]    
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]    
Unallocated corporate expenses $ (31,711,000)us-gaap_OtherGeneralAndAdministrativeExpense
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= us-gaap_CorporateNonSegmentMember
$ (25,827,000)us-gaap_OtherGeneralAndAdministrativeExpense
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= us-gaap_CorporateNonSegmentMember