Uh, no. Not fun. Never going to be. But you're a bike rider, so now and then you gotta go Up.
OKAY, THEN: ARE THERE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO GET TO THE TOP FASTER . . . MAYBE EVEN WITH SOME MODICUM OF PAIN REDUCTION? Well now, here we have a Maybe.
Now here's the deal. I'm old. I mean really old. Don't ask. And I have not one, but two heart "issues". Plus only 2/3 of a left leg courtesy of nerve damage from my (runner) racing days (hence my nickname, courtesy of the ever-sensitive Ty: "Polio Boy"). Add to this still-in-place blood and cellular damage from 9 weeks of intense radiation last summer. No, no, no, brothers and sisters. This ain't no poor-me-please-pity-me whine. I bring this up only because, even with all this baggage, I still manage to be probably a somewhat-better-than-average climber.
How's that possible?
Because as "just" a recreational rider, like most of you in the club (race team, you can stop reading here) I've tried a bunch of different things on climbs that are within the capabilities of Everyman/woman riders (a.k.a. the club's Base), keeping what works and dumping what doesn't. That, and being both prudent and patient when the grade goes up. The following are some things that work for me, all of which seem to be the antithesis of what I witness over and over on the climbs during Saturday club rides from Pumpkin Ridge to Blooming Fern Road.
So here you go. Try one, a few, or all. See if any of them work for you. No real secrets here (well, maybe one), maybe more a reminder to focus, to pay attention to what you are doing or not doing.
1. BE PATIENT. Start the climbs as comfortably as you can, GRADUALLY bringing your heartrate up to whatever level you can maintain for multiple minutes, somewhere just south of the dreaded Red Zone, and keep it there. Let me say that again: GRADUALLY bring your heartrate up, work your way slowly and methodically up to your maximal climbing rhythm. Check your Ego at the bottom on the climb. My god, the way you see Velo-ites leaping out of the saddle throwing their bikes all over the place, or cramped-shoulder-hunched over the bars pounding the pedals the INSTANT the climb begins, you'd think they were handing out nude photos of Angelina Jolie to the first 3 riders to pass the 100 meter mark. I see this every week: many, many riders who shoot off the front (you know who you are) at the bottom hammering and jamming only to slow dramatically within 400m, and ultimately all squinty-eyed and on the cusp of blowing chunks barely able to turn the pedals long before the climb crests. So PLEASE: start gradually, work your way into the climb at a nice, even rhythm, lift your HR gradually, and odds are you'll summit faster with less pain and more satisfaction. I mean, really, WHO CARES who "wins" the first 30 seconds? Think long term. Think WHOLE climb. Because when you start off too fast, you're going to blow. And when you do, you're done. You're not getting it back on that climb.
Bonus: YOU are the one doing the passing on the way up. Major mental boost.
2. YOUR CLIMB, YOUR TEMPO. Be selfish if you have to. And you do. Even if you're with your riding buddies, and have signed a blood oath to ride together, declare a 
moratorium for the climbs. Here, it's everyone go at his/her own pace, as per the guidelines laid out in #1 above. It's damn near as hard to slow down to accommodate the weaker climbers in your subgroup by trying to ride tripping-over-your-own feet slow as it is to ride over your head trying to hold the wheels of the stronger ones. Climb at your own tempo, regroup at the top, and THEN reinstate your All For One contract. Until the next climb.
3. CHANGE GEARS OFTEN. One thing I see a lot is riders do, once the gradient stabilizes at 6% or whatever (REALLY evident on Pumpkin Ridge last month), stay in the exact same gear minute after minute after minute. What I started doing some years back was, while climbing seated, shifting UP one gear for 30 seconds or so, then shifting back DOWN for 30 or so seconds, then UP again. Believe it or not, when you shift up just one gear, your cadence slows down a bit, but you maintain the same speed and it actually seems easier. Then when you start puffing a bit, go back down to your "regular" or default gear. Do the same thing when you are riding fast at or near your limit on the flat, in a pace line or wherever. UP or DOWN every 20-30 seconds. Keeping it in the one gear means the same levels of stress on the same muscle groups without surcease (how's that for an Edgar Allan Poe word?). So spread the stress around a little and move back and forth on your cassette. I swear, when I start feeling better. For a while. Then when I go back to my original/default climbing gear it feels more comfortable than it did prior to the upshift. Sounds weird, I know. But just try it.
4. HEELS DOWN. Next time you're on a climb, try this: Push your toes down for 10 pedal strokes, then do the next 10 pushing aggressively down on your heels. If you don't feel a major difference in leg fatigue, your muscles are different than mine. Something about pushing down hard on the heel to the bottom of the pedal stroke seems to involve all the leg muscles and almost forces your to carve circles rather than doing the piston thing. It's just easier. Often, a LOT easier. If you do none of the other suggestions I'm serving up here, try this one for sure.
5. UP AND OUT. Every minute or so, shift up 2 gears and come out of the saddle for 8 or 10 strokes, then plunk your butt back in the saddle and as you are doing so, drop down 2 gears back to where you were. Keeps your lower back from cramping, uses your leg muscles in a slightly different way giving some a (sort of) break.
Bonus: Makes you feel more aggressive as in Kicking the Climb's Ass.
6. HANG LOOSE. Another thing I see a lot of on trips up the hills we ride is a lot of riders grimacing and white-knuckling the bars. When I was running, more than once coach told us this: Open mouth, loose jaw, relaxed hands. If you can focus on staying loose and relaxed, you just become a whole lot more efficient and so tire less quickly. So think actively the next time you're climbing. Repeat the mantra internally: Relax. Stay loose. Rest your hands gently on the tops of the bars or hoods, just enough to maintain control. No grabbing.
7. YOUR NOSE IS THERE. USE IT. At least at some points during the climb, take in 3 or 4 long, hard breaths through your nose, then breathe out aggressively through your mouth. Try to do this a couple of times per minute. This way you get more air into those upper lung chambers. And as we know, performance is all about Moving Oxygen.
8. BIG RING POW-AH. Once a week, on moderate gradients (under 6%), stay seated and stay in your big ring for 20 seconds, 30 seconds, a minute, whatever you can handle. Not a huge gear, but one hard enough to reduce your cadence to 55-60 rpm. DO NOT try this if you have knee issues. Even if you don't, start off conservatively, that is a sorta big gear just to see how if feels, if your knees can handle it. If so, move up 1, see how that goes. Don't do this a lot. But it has produced substantial gains for my climbing game in terms of greater leg power. Something I desperately need. And have achieved by Big Ring Reps. You'll be amazed at how much easier in-the-saddle small ring cranking is once you've done regular BRRs for a few months.
That's it. Go back, give all this a second read through, then field test a few. Before all the coaching types go batshit over these tips, let me reinforce one point. These are some things I've tried, and all of them have made me a better climber. Nothing scientific here, all just anecdotal. But maybe some of them will produce the same results for you. This is all I'm saying here. All I mean to say.