Columbia Women's Sloan Ridge Graphic Long Sleeve Technical T-Shirt review: a performance layer that puts comfort first

Meet the reviewer

Julia Clarke

Julia Clarke is a staff writer for Advnture.com and the author of the book Restorative Yoga for Beginners. She loves to explore mountains on foot, bike, skis and belay and then recover on the the yoga mat. Julia graduated with a degree in journalism in 2004 and spent eight years working as a radio presenter in Kansas City, Vermont, Boston and New York City before discovering the joys of the Rocky Mountains. She then detoured west to Colorado and enjoyed 11 years teaching yoga in Vail before returning to her hometown of Glasgow, Scotland in 2020 to focus on family and writing.  

Columbia Women's Sloan Ridge Graphic Long Sleeve Technical T-Shirt: first impressions 

Your first layer for hiking is a very personal choice. Some of us prefer the natural fabric of merino wool while others like high-performing synthetics. Those of us who love the feel of cotton haven't historically had much to choose from, since it's not ideal for hiking – until this base layer came along, that is.

This base layer has the soft feel of cotton making it extremely appealing to wear against your skin when you're out for a long day in the mountains, so you'll be astonished to learn it's actually made from polyester. That means hikers can enjoy all-day comfort and work up a sweat while staying warm and dry. 

This long-sleeved top has a casual fit and lots of stretch, which means it's extra comfy and still easy to layer when it gets cold out. The graphic on the back makes it fun to wear with jeans as well as your favorite hiking pants.

Add to all that it's very budget-friendly and made using 78% recycled content for a lighter footprint on the trails. All we can ask for is a men's version soon.

Columbia Women's Sloan Ridge Graphic Long Sleeve Technical T-Shirt: in the field

I received this base layer to test out on a trip to the Swiss Alps with Columbia and when I pulled it out, I had two thoughts: "It's so pretty!" and "Wait, is this made from cotton?"

It isn't cotton, so I wore it in the Alps and have been wear it on every hike here in Scotland for the past month.

Here’s how it performed:

Sizing, fit and comfort

I tested a size small which is my usual size. Compared to my other base layers, it's a little loose so I thought it might run large, but looking at the pictures of it on the model at Columbia's website, I see it's meant to have a more casual fit. 

For base layers, you do need the fabric to be close to your skin so that it can effectively wick sweat, so I wouldn't recommend sizing up in this top if you actually want to use it on a hike. As it is, the sizing is really comfortable but snug enough that it's easy to pull a fleece on over the top.

This top somehow feels like really soft cotton. I don't know how they've done it. So it feels great on. Sometimes polyester base layers can feel a bit clammy but this just feels cozy and I'd quite happily wear it all day long.

Breathability and temperature regulation

I expected this top to become damp and clammy when I started sweating on a steep hike up Ben Vrackie recently, because it feels like cotton. Of course, it behaves like polyester, so it breathes well and when I got to the top and was a bit sweaty, it dried quickly, unlike cotton.

Polyester is also better and keeping you warm than cotton, and I noticed that I got warmer in this than I'd expected, again because it doesn't feel like it should be thermal. That's intentional, of course, and great now the weather has turned cooler, though like any base layer it's probably too warm for hot summer hikes.

Odor control and other details

Synthetic fabric has a habit of getting smelly fast but I've worn this for multiple hikes and it's fine. There's no indication that it's been treated to be antimicrobial, but it may be that the slightly looser fit helps? Whatever it is, I appreciate it as that's one of the things that really turns me off synthetic base layers.

It doesn't have any thumb holes, but I haven't had any issue with layering it, and the only other real detail to mention, is the fun graphic on the back which has me wearing this around town as well as up a hill.

Columbia Women's Sloan Ridge Graphic Long Sleeve Technical T-Shirt: the bottom line

This base layer performs like a technical top with thermoregulating properties, but feels like cotton and looks like a fun tee you'd want to wear anywhere. It's priced to be inclusive and we think you'll get a lot of use out of it between hiking and casual use.

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