Mountain Biking: Climbing Hills

I don't ride on dirt so often anymore, however i do have plenty of experience climbing hills on and off the road. There are many reasons you could be running out of steam in the middle of a hill. I'm assuming your nutrition and energy levels are optimal. That said, hopefully you are using clipless pedals. To climb hills effectively, you have to concentrate on how you pedal not just cadence. Are you mashing on the front of the pedal stroke or are you pedaling in a full circle? Are you able to use all the muscles in the leg? Do you get out of the sadlle to get the extra push? I don't need answers to these questions, you do. re-think how you are pedaling. As far shifting and cadene goes, you need to build momentum before you stat climbing so don't be afraid of speed on downhills. Start shifting a few feet into the hill. When you feel loss of momentum, shift again. Keep it up until you are up the hill. Try to keep your cadence constant but know that it may vary. Remember, balance is all about forward motion. If you lose tooo much momentum, you will fall. Try getting out of the saddle if you're not aready doing so.  

Happy Climbing!

One thing that helps me is to keep my upper body and arms as 'quiet' as possible. Forearms horizontal, elbows in and not gripping and pulling on the bars. Try sitting on the sofa and gripping and pulling the arms for 5 minutes and see how knackering it is and thats before you start peddling up a hill!

think ducks on water

            If your talking about hills on single track mtb trails, short but steep !! then one word comes to mind.. MOMENTUM !  MOMENTUM !  MOMENTUM !

                                                    Hop, in Indiana

Another thing you may want to think about is how you are riding the type of bike you have.  Hardtails have a different climbing characteristic than full-suspension bikes.  The technique of riding either up a hill varies.

With a hardtail bike hillclimbing (except for extended hill routes) is best done in a somewhat standing position.  I say somewhat standing as you need to make sure you are in a position to move your body weight forward or backward as needed to maximize traction.  This usually puts you into a somewhat crouched-while-standing-on-the-pedals position.  If you feel the front wheel come up off the ground you shift weight forward to keep it on the ground.  If you feel the back tire spin and loose traction you put your weight back.  You have to constantly shift forward and back on most hills, as the traction is constantly changing.  It becomes a sort of dance, especially when you factor in any obstacles, such as tree roots, rocks, other riders, etc.  The key to hardtail climbing is finesse (come to think of it, that is the key for any riding done on a hardtail....)

 On a full-suspension bike climbs are mostly done in a seated position to take advantage of the suspension creating maximum traction.  For just about all suspension designs having your weight in the saddle tends to let the suspension action push the rear wheel into the ground, allowing the mechanical advantage of the suspension take up the work of finding the grip of the rear wheel.  You can focus more on keeping the front down when needed.  The suspension also handles the typical trail obstacles as well.  Standing to climb on a full-suspension can require different types of technique, depending on the suspension design and if you have a platform-pedal or lockout shock.  

Someone here previously posted to stay relaxed and not rock the bike.  I agree with staying relaxed in the upper body and pull when needed, but I have had good results by some rocking side-to-side (similar to road sprinters) on the handlebars, almost a levering action while climbing.  This of course works well with flat bars and bar ends, and also on less technical climbs.