Climbing is a power to weight ratio thing further complicated with aerobic limitations. The more efficient your body is at climbing, the better your body can keep up with O2 uptake and lactic acid. The other issue is power to weight. I am a fairly heavy body type (mesomorph), so I will allways suffer on the hills. I live in North GA so I will allways be riding them. I have large strong legs, I can turn many into rollers, but the long extended climbs belong to the smaller, lighter guys with lots of climbing in their legs.
I live off of a Road called Ridge Road. It's called that for a reason. When I leave my neighborhood, or when I am trying to come back, there will be hills. I have to climb a 12%+ hill to get out of my subdivision. There is not a 1/2 mile flat stretch of road within 10 miles of where I live. I can climb, but it's not pretty.