Doing hills can be a challenge and especially for those not experienced at it. While I was, (and am still) learning the technique I wrote down the advice I got from various sources. I thought it may be of some value to some so hear they are.

The Secret to hills.

the more you ride in your area, the stronger you will get

you have to be very fit to live in the mountains. You need to be able to make a lot of power aerobically, and clear lactic acid well, and recover a bit while still under a certain amount of pressure.
It took me more than one season to build myself up, so be patient. 
If there is a trick to climbing, then it is simply accepting that there is no such thing as "casual" riding in the mountains.

"Be patient. Don't try to charge up the hill as fast as you can. Go at a pace, no matter how slow that is, that allows you to be . . . smooooooth. No gasping for air, nice smooth breathing. No clutching the handlebars spasmodically and mashing your legs erratically, nice smooth circles.


Relax. Body and mind. Try to keep your upper body relaxed, hands loose, SMILE! Focus mentally on just moving the pedals round and round and round and . . . so on. Don't look up at the top of the hill. This is always demoralizing. Especially when you look up and realize you can't *see* the top of the hill.


Shift to a low gear early. If you find that it's not enough of a challenge, you can always get in a bigger gear. When I confronted that final climb on Saturday, I didn't even bother . . . I just put that baby right into the great-granny gear, and started plugging away. 

If you need to, get off the bike, but be aware that walking up a steep hill (especially in stiff-soled bike shoes) is not much less painful than riding up it. I stopped twice on that climb, for about 30 seconds each, to stretch my back. I didn't walk, just hopped back on the bike and continued to climb. Those two quick breaks felt *fantastic* and without them, my back may well have protested too much for me to be able to finish the climb.

But the long-term bottom line, as others have mentioned, is that the single biggest secret to being a good hill climber is to just keep going out and climbing the hills!


------------------------------

Comfortable" is another word you will no longer need to describe your riding
it isn't easy and it always hurts, so I would have to say that the real secret is just not minding it.

that's right. You have to find that pace that you can maintain for an extended time. One where your HR levels off and does not keep going up. 

Once you go beyond that pace, the clock is ticking. On a mountain there are not alot of places where you get a chance to recover, so once you go anaerobic, it is just a matter of time. 

That's why I said earlier that it is important to learn how to recover a little while still being under pressure.
That skill will help you when you misjudge your effort on the way up.

One way to "cheat" on super steep hills is to zig zag back and forth. So if you're absolutely at your limit, you can ride sideways across the road to get momentum, and then turn back across, repeating until you recover. It ain't pretty, but it beats walking. The downside is that your effective rate of ascent drops even lower, so you'll spend even more time on the hill.

Some random advice from a guy who can climb pretty well but not "oh my god look at him go" fast:

Tip 1- Breathe deliberately as you climb. Don't let your breathing rhythm go nuts. Once you can't regulate your breath, all kinds of bad things happen. Breath deeply in and forcefully out.


Tip 2- Know that it hurts for everyone. Some people ride up hills faster than others, but everyone's legs and lungs are burning just the same. I always feel like this helps me- particularly when being dropped.

Tip 3- Find recovery points on the climb. When you're climbing long hills you'll find there are often stretches that are almost flat or even a little downhill. Sometimes you get a nice tailwind through a switchback or around a turn. Treat these little reprieves as recovery opportunities. Which leads me to... 

Tip 4- Use interval training to improve the speed of your recovery. You can do them on flat land or on climbs, it doesn't matter as long as you go all-out hard then really rest. Intervals are good for those days when you only have a little bit of time to ride. If you do them right, you'll absolutely dread doing your interval workout.

Tip 5- If you have a heart rate monitor, figure out exactly where you go anarobic. Understand that you have a limited amount of time that your body can handle being anaerobic before you start to shut down. So save the anaerobic efforts for when the hill really demands it.

Tip 6- Keep your gaze ahead of you. Don't look down at the road. This is always good advice whether you're going up, down, or flat but while climbing it makes the hill seem do-able rather than just an infinite incline that just won't quit. You don't have to look at the top of the hill. Find a mile marker or a tree or something and concentrate on making to that object. Once you get there find another one a little further up the hill.
Hi,
A mental trick that worked for me on a recent mountain century (Mtn of misery...steep 3 mile hill at the end), was to be aware of my pain, but listen to the background noise. There were birds singing and the breeze blowing through the trees. It was almost meditative, and made my 45 minute climb seem not so long as the previous 3x I did it.


Every so often I would stand to pedal for 3 strokes. But instead of a smooth pedal, I would push down, and hold while coasting, repeat 2x, then sit and get back into the groove. Gives you a little stretch of the back, uses the quads a little differently, and helps your head.

Early on a big hill, I would put it into that really low gear (39x34...cheap man's triple), and, as others mentioned, just slowly grind away. I only attack hills that can be climbed in less than 2 minutes.

Enjoy the satisfaction you will have when you conquer those big hills that are killing you now!


I thought of one other thing that helps me when I'm suffering up a climb. Come up with a climbing mantra. I say under my breath (and so no one can hear me) "quick-round-strong" over and over again. Even I think it sounds like B.S. when I say it but it helps me remember how I want my pedals to spin. 

Repeating anything out loud will keep you from going completely anaerobic.