Last weekend the IFSC European Bouldering Championship took place in Innsbruck, Austria and kicked off the 2015 international bouldering competition season. As usual, Innsbruck put on a show that didn't disappoint, with performances from the athletes that matched the high quality spectacle of the event. German couple Jan Hojer and Juliane Wurm both took home the title of European Champion in front of an enthusiastic crowd of thousands.

The top 20 athletes qualified for semi-finals, with just 6 climbers (7 on countback for the women) making it to the final round. In the women's event, the absence of non-European competitors such as Alex Puccio and Akiyo Noguchi - as well as Shauna Coxsey's withdrawal from the event due to injury - left the field fairly wide open, attracting fresh new talent from younger climbers making their senior bouldering debut. Austria's Jessica Pilz made finals in her first IFSC senior bouldering event, with some other young athletes narrowly missing out on finals. 

Germany's current World Bouldering Champion Juliane Wurm stole the show and set the bar astonishingly high for the Bouldering World Cup series this year. Finishing top of the pack in the semis, confidently flashing the first two problems and making quick work of the third in the finals, Juliane had already won the competition before the last problem came around - a tricky slab which saw no successful ascent. Anna Stöhr was a close second, also managing to top 3 problems but seemingly lacking the confidence to flash them. 

In the men's event, a mix of usual suspects combined with some newcomers made it through to finals. Italy's Stefan Scarperi put in a gutsy performance and amazed the crowd by completing the third problem and becoming the only man to do so, giving Adam Ondra and Jan Hojer a run for their money and knocking Jakob Schubert - who qualified in first place after semis - out of a podium finish. However, Jan stepped up his game on the powerful last problem to take the victory and add European Champion to his World Bouldering Cup title from last year. Adam Ondra took silver after battling a tough round of problems which didn't appear to suit him.

Britain's Dave Barrans and Leah Crane finished 18th and 20th respectively after making the semi-final round.

Results:

WOMEN

MEN

Full results here. Watch a replay of the finals below: