I'm from Chicago and just moved to Connecticut. Between where I live now and where my in-laws live in Vermont, I now get hills a plenty. And I suck at climbing them too.

I do suck less now because, while I hate hills with a passion, I keep on climbing them. Climbing them when I ride alone, when I ride with friends, when I'm pulling trailers (and then they really suck).

Are you geared low enough? Standing helps in that you are switching which muscles you are using but is actually less efficient than sitting and spinning (this is why you'll see a lot of the pros switch back and forth).

Besides that, anything that improves your cardio should help you spin up the hill faster.

And, no conversation about how to improve hills would be complete without Eddie:

"Don't buy upgrades, ride up grades."

Good luck, Charles