I'll echo the sentiments above that encourage lots of climbing to get better at climbing. I'm in my second year of riding, after being off the bike for a very long time. This year I set a goal of completing the KOM challenge , and just got done with it. Even old, slow, fat guys can do it- I'm proof. Well, me and Pcad, but the point is anyone can do it.

Some of those rides are the hardest thing I've done on a bike, but I got through it, one of 148 people this year. I was really fighting to maintain my position at the bottom of the list, and I'm proud to say I was very successful at that.

Hundreds of other people did parts of the series, and many more people do these kinds of rides for fun all the time. My point is that it's entirely possible for the average person to get alot better at climbing, just by doing lots of it. Don't be afraid of climbing, keep telling yourself you like it, keep doing it, and know that it indeed gets better. Just do a climbing ride at least once or twice every week, and you'll see th gains very soon.

As someone said: if you keep at it, it doesn't hurt any less, you just get faster.