I can't find the number of calories in true stair climbing - per
stair. Most numbers give a generic kcals/hour. Certainly, however,
this depends on how fast you're climbing the stairs/the number you
climb per hour (not to mention your weight). There should also be an
energy expenditure when going DOWN stairs as well. Some place I read
that it's about twice going up what it is going down.

What is the caloric expenditure to go up *PER* stair and to go down *PER* stair?

Hello.

Your memory is accurate!  The energy expenditure of ascending stairs
is about twice that of descending.

From an article published in "Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise"
(April 2002).

UP: 0.11 calories per stair
DOWN: 0.05 calories per stair

See:

"Methods: Subjects were initially assessed for their maximum oxygen
uptake and heart rate on a treadmill in the laboratory. For field
measurements, subjects ascended (N = 103) and descended (N = 49) 11
stories of 180 steps, each step of 15 cm in height, for a total
vertical displacement of 27.0 m.
Results: ...The estimated gross energy expended during ascending and
descending were 19.7 and 9.0 kcal, or equivalent to an intensity of
9.6 and 4.9 metabolic equivalents (METs), respectively (or 10.2 and
5.2 kcal[middle dot]min-1, respectively). The caloric cost of stepping
up and down a step was calculated to be 0.11 and 0.05 kcal,
respectively."
http://www.ms-se.com/pt/re/msse/abstract.00005768-200204000-00021.htm;jsessionid=EngpABkzxEY25f1fpFnQPrNhtupF5pw6IP7n5eoFbRN1L6IqifRh!-839643570!-949856144!9001!-1?article=6&basedoc=00005768-199709000-00019&nav=forward

Basically, the subjects expended 19.7 kcal (a.k.a. "calories") going
up 180 stairs (i.e., 19.7 / 180 = 0.11 per step) and 9 kcal going down
(i.e., 9 / 180 = 0.05 per step).

----------
search strategy:
"calories * stair" "each flight

I hope this helps.

Excellent. Thanks.

The previous comment seems fair enough but the exact answer depends on
your body weight, as it takes more energy to lift a heavier weight.

Babyboomer, are you saying I'm fat?

So fat folks get more exercise than thin folks just by existing? And
I've been going about it the hard way!

Juggler, use a capital "C" for Calories when giving the equivalent of kilocals.

Only you can say whether you are fat, Jack. But if you are a tall
person with a heavy frame, you will use up more energy when climbing
than if you are a very small person.