I live in the hills, too; and i suck at climbing!

I rode my Klein with it's lowest gear being 39x23 for two years, then decided to convert it to a compact crank. You know what? My performance has actually decreased. No matter what gears you run, it takes a certain amount of torque and energy to get up the hills. You can ride what you have, and gradually build your strength...or you can get super-low gearing.....and it won't seem much easier, and you'll take longer to get strong.

Going from a 30 to a 32 will be near imperceptible. Even a 34....

My lowest gearing is 34x27 now......it doesn't seem any easier than when I had 39x23. The big hills are still a struggle- I'm just now getting back to the point i was at, fitness-wise, when I had the 39x23. Now maybe I can start improving in the near future. At some point you just have to deal with it....struggle for a while, and build strength.

I think the low-cadence/knee damage thing is largely a myth, too. It takes a certain amount of energy to get up a big hill. If you're spinning at 100 RPM or 30RPM, you still need a minimum amount of energy transfered through your legs to the pedals. The difference is, the guy who can spin at 100 RPM is stronger.

I do very low cadence up the hills; I'm 53. My knees had been giving me a little trouble before i started riding. They don't give me any trouble as of the last two years (I've been riding for 4). The more I rode, the better my knees got. (And I have to ride the hills, always...i have no choice)