I will admit to having a stomping 'style' of riding, but I'm well into one ring up front.
One bike has 36x11/36 (10sp) and the other 34x11/34 (9sp). I get up almost everything without too many struggles. I may go to 34x11/36 for the winter and stop using my Michelin tubeless lightweight dry tyres as they are little more than semi-slicks (but I love them).
It's part of my decision to have less stuff on the bike, though I wouldn't go singlespeed. That just ruins a good bike (steps away).