Columbia Sportswear has hired Faith Briggs and Mark Chase as the brand's new directors of toughness. During the next nine months, the two directors will be travelling around the globe to test Columbia's gear in tough conditions. They will be documenting their journey on columbia.com/testedtough and across the brand's social media platforms. Briggs and Chase were chosen among more than 4,000 applicants from the U.S., Canada and the U.K. through “The Toughest Interview,” in which they were asked to scale mountains, hike overnight and kayak, in addition to more traditional questions. The “interviews” were conducted in Portland, New York, Canada and Scotland. Briggs is a runner and documentary film-maker from Brooklyn, New York. Chase, who joins the company from Gloucester, England, is a former semi-professional rugby player.