The StairMaster is one of the best tools a mountain athlete has for building vertical fitness indoors. But it speaks its own language - floors, steps, levels - while a mountain objective is measured in metres and feet of climbing. If your summit day demands 1,200 m (3,900 ft) of ascent, you need to know what that looks like in StairMaster terms. This calculator does the conversion: enter the floors or steps you climbed and how long it took, and it returns your total vertical gain in both metres and feet, plus your rate of climb.
| Tier | Vertical gain | Month |
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How the calculation works
The maths is simple. Every step you climb on a StairMaster lifts your body by a fixed height, so your total vertical gain is just the number of steps multiplied by the step height. The StairMaster simulates a step rise of roughly 8 inches, or about 20 centimetres - the same as a typical building stair.
If your machine reports floors rather than steps, there is one extra conversion: a StairMaster floor is conventionally counted as 16 steps. So one floor is about 16 steps times 8 inches, which comes to roughly 3.25 metres or 10.7 feet of climbing. These figures are close estimates - the exact step height and floor definition vary between machine models, which is why this calculator lets you adjust the step height. Dividing your total vertical gain by your session time gives your rate of climb, a useful number to compare against the demand of a real summit day.
Using it for mountain training
Vertical gain is the currency of mountaineering, so it is the figure to train against. Find the climbing your objective demands - a peak page in the Train for a Peak hub lists the summit-day vertical - and use this calculator to see how your StairMaster sessions stack up against it over a week or a build.
The StairMaster is excellent for accumulating steady vertical, but it is one tool among several, and it has a real limitation: like every indoor climbing machine, it never trains the descent. For how it compares with the incline treadmill, read StairMaster vs incline treadmill for mountaineering, and if you train on a treadmill too, the treadmill incline calculator does the same job for that machine. For where machine work fits in a complete plan, see the best exercises for mountaineering guide.
Common questions
How do you convert StairMaster floors to elevation gain?
Vertical gain is the number of steps you climbed multiplied by the height of each step. A StairMaster floor is conventionally counted as 16 steps, and the machine simulates a step rise of about 8 inches, or 20 centimetres. So one floor is roughly 16 steps times 8 inches, which is about 3.25 metres or 10.7 feet of climbing. This calculator does the conversion for you and lets you adjust the step height, because it varies a little between machine models.
How many steps is 100 floors on a StairMaster?
On the standard convention of 16 steps per floor, 100 floors is 1,600 steps. With the simulated 8 inch (20 cm) step rise that most StairMaster machines use, that works out to roughly 325 metres (1,070 ft) of vertical gain - about a third of the vertical on a long alpine training day. The exact figure depends on your machine's step height, which is why this calculator lets you adjust it.
How many feet is one floor on a StairMaster?
One StairMaster floor is conventionally 16 steps. With the standard simulated step rise of about 8 inches, that works out to roughly 10.7 feet, or about 3.25 metres, of vertical gain per floor. The exact figure depends on the machine model, so treat it as a close estimate rather than an exact constant. This calculator lets you adjust the step height if you know your machine's specification.
What is the standard StairMaster step height?
Most StairMaster machines simulate a step rise of about 8 inches (20 cm) per step. That figure is the industry convention rather than a strict standard - individual models can vary by half an inch or so. If you train on a specific machine and want exact numbers, this calculator lets you override the default step height and recalculate vertical gain on the spot.
How many floors is a mile on a StairMaster?
A mile is 5,280 feet of vertical gain. With the standard 8 inch (20 cm) step rise and 16 steps per floor (about 10.7 ft per floor), one mile of vertical works out to roughly 495 floors, or about 7,920 steps. That is a hard session for any mountain athlete - useful as a once-a-week ceiling test, not a daily target. The calculator above will show the equivalent for a different step height if your machine specifies one.
How many floors is 2,000 steps on a StairMaster?
On the standard 16-steps-per-floor convention, 2,000 steps is 125 floors. With the 8 inch (20 cm) step rise that most StairMaster machines simulate, that equals roughly 1,333 feet (407 metres) of vertical gain - a strong single-session climb that fits inside a typical hour at a steady mountain-training pace.
Does the StairMaster build mountaineering fitness?
Yes. Mountaineering is paid for in vertical gain, and the StairMaster delivers a high, steady rate of climbing along with a stepping pattern close to the real movement. It is a strong tool for accumulating vertical when you cannot get to real terrain. Its one large limitation is that it only trains the uphill - it does not train the eccentric load of the descent, which has to be trained separately.
Is the StairMaster or the treadmill better for mountain training?
Neither wins outright. The StairMaster gives a high, constant rate of vertical gain; the incline treadmill offers an exact, adjustable grade and carries a weighted pack more comfortably. Most mountain athletes are best served using both. The full comparison is in our StairMaster vs incline treadmill guide.