Lean forward, 'til your body feels parallel to the ground, then pull the handle upwards, I guess you’re actually pulling the handle in the direction you want to ride, not ‘upwards’, but you should put more weight forward than on the handle to stop yourself flipping backwards! 
It’s kind of hard to explain. Once you do it, you get it. Especially off-road. Geared Cokering feels like climbing a hill even on flat so the Shadow handlebar is a must.
with a 36er the handlebar can go from needing to be pushed down to needing to be pulled up at different times. When climbing you are using the handlebar to brace against the wheel which probably requires more weight to move than you have. I find that I often come off the saddle completely and have ended up riding with only the grab handle between my legs.
Hmmmmmmm… 
im gonna go practice now, as of speaking of…
I think everyone’s technique is slightly different, but my personal experience is that when hill climbing (on a big wheel), the extra effort applied to the pedals tends to make the unicycle swing from one side to the other. This is where I think a handlebar is helpful. Grasping the bar, you can counter the swinging effect, and keep the uni pointing straight. There is some upwards pull to assist your downward pedal thrust, but mostly (for me) it’s keeping the thing upright and pointed in the right direction.
It’s more like pulling your uni up the hill by the handle and using your foot to anchor the wheel.
I just knocked another big hill off my list. Unfortunately the last one on the list is F*ing gnarly, steep and long. I have yet to do it on any of my unis.
Totally! 
I’ve not done many REALLY crazy climbs on my 36er yet, but I imagine myself using the same technique I used on my 29er. Once I’ve gotten comfortable with the short cranks (and the weather’s cleared up a bit) I’m heading to the biggest hills I know and having some fun!
20141113_142044_opt.jpg
20141113_142824_opt.jpg
Today’s playground. Whoohoo…had a blast practicing.
Ok so i discovered i can climb better when i am slightly leaned over with back straight (getting of the back slouching over) , chest up and out, keeping upper body feeling light as posssible and having very little weight on saddle, with strong pedal thrusts. Thrusting my way up. I can now hold on to the saddle, for me, its either no pressure or pressing down. Awesome, getting a hang of it.
20 times, Downhill, what a blast!
For the first time, im actually doing better with hand on the brake. Though, im perfectly fine going brakeless, with more arm balance. But with brake, a lot more fun.
Got my saddle swing around to calf strike, barable pain…
Had my wheel escape from me and tumbled down 20ft… I chased after it in fear it would have crashed all way to the bottom.
Overall, really good practice with the brake. Yeah!
Wow, what a beauftiful ride you did from Bay to Artist Point. Really nice video!
Glad you’re getting the hang of it, on the 29" it really allow to get through very steep parts - though not for a long time!
Check out the videos of the guys climbing St Fargo Street, it’s pretty clear how they pull on the handle because they’re going not very fast and you see them decompose the movement beautifully.
Benefits of the 36
It’s really amazing what 36 riding does for your 29er skills. I haven’t ridden my 29er muni off road in about a year, it always felt like too much wheel. I’ve been riding my 36 a lot over the past few months trying to get into decent shape. Yesterday I got a bug to take my 29er back off road, I hopped on, it felt small and so light, I’ve never felt so comfortable off road riding ever! I’m definitely gonna go out and hit the muni again. Downhill parts that used to be difficult were easy, uphills that used to be difficult were… well… not as difficult.
It’s nice to see some big improvement 
20141120_103951_opt.jpg
20141120_110457_opt.jpg
My first good soaking.
Our first significant rain in the Bay Area. Too bad it hadnt snowed here since the 70’s. That i would have to head 3.5 hrs for in the Sierra Mts.
Loved playing in the soaking rain and mud. Its like being a kid again, minus all that scolding afterwards.
Im ever impressed how much control i have gotten, going downhills, through gopher riddin holes, despite 1 lb. of mud/gopher poop on my tire.
The other day, on a dry day, i even noticed a bike tire skid marks all the way down this one steeper hill. And my 36er had no troubles on it. Definitely keeping my long cranks for muni. The advantage is that we dont gather all that momentum such a freewheeling bike.
We really are All Wheel Drive and we can bail out:D
Funny how some bikers ask, " Can you really go down that?? "
" Sure, no problem "maybe not super fast, and wont look so impressive when i do accomplish it with control. But when i fail out of control and forced to jump off, then the realization of how steep it really is when me or the wheel goes flying. Only to repeat it again.
20150227_151924_opt.jpg
Whooohoo! Had the greatest blast up to date. 2.5 hrs of intense up and down hills on roads and narrow single tracks. I wished I took more pics, but I was way into focusing on the ride and intensity ( some trails were freakishly mountain lion territory, and i didnt want to hang around too long , and grabbed a branch just in case : )
My biggest improvement today is climbing hills. Loving it!! Thanks to Anton and Davidhood and others. Yeah, you’re right. I managed to understand and apply the concept of holding on to the saddle handle and REALLY pulling up to pull myself up a steep hill. Pressing down, on flat terrain, good for speed, keeping back straight and relieving some pressure.
Also, a major improvement is my ability to pace myself uphills, being able to slow down, down enough to listen to my own breathing, breathing deeper and slower, and further reducing my heart rate, then after the slowed pace abled to pick up the pace again. Wow, what a difference it made in going for distance. I probably covered twice the distance today and without feeling as tired. Also interesting was the fact that i felt more tired in the first hour of riding then in my next hr and a half. I could only guess that the 1st hr was only a warm up and the intensity had only begin to kick in after.
Wow, learned so much from longer rides and taking new trails;)
Great stuff, UPD! I hadn’t been following the topic closely but it looks like you’re making great progress. Really nice pictures too.
Maybe you’ve said before, but for the sake of lazy people–such as myself–who don’t want to go look for it, what length cranks do you have on it?
2.5 hours of hills like that on a 36" has got to be a monster workout. Whatever treat you gave yourself when you got home, you surely earned it.
165mm. Yeah amazing workout, covered in sweat. Had to beat the traffic and back home, or I wouldve loved to have continued. Totally at a sense of bliss, out in the secluded woods. Much more effiecient at it this time. As a matter of fact, i got out this nagging ache on my left knee for the past month. My legs feel awesome today. Bottled water have never tasted this good!
Sounds like you’ve got it sorted. And you’re obviously putting in the miles (no substitute for that) to practice your new found skills. Keep it up!
Really, thanks guys.
My next goal ride to my brother’s house up on the hills and surprise him;)
A true “Uni-High”. Like a runner’s high, but better!
Way to go UPD.
By grabbing the seat or bar as you ascend, you are actually doing leg presses. This allows you to press down MORE than your own weight, like most bike riders are capable of.
By grabbing the seat or bar as you ascend, you are actually doing leg presses. This allows you to press down MORE than your own weight, like most bike riders are capable of.