Also called: Hut Croo, Backcountry Hut Caretaker
Lives and works in a remote mountain hut, cooking for hikers, cleaning, and carrying supplies up the trail on their back.
At 5 a.m. she starts bread dough for 90 hikers at a White Mountains hut. After breakfast she straps a 60-pound load of fresh food onto a wooden packboard and hikes it up a steep trail. In the evening the crew serves a family-style dinner, then gives a talk on alpine plants.
Seasonal; room and board on the mountain are included.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 0.25 years after high school. No degree; hired for fitness, cooking, teamwork and outdoor skills; wilderness first aid is usually required.
Ways in: On-the-job training. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Outdoor Recreation, Environmental Studies, Culinary Arts.
Growing about average. Small, steady number of seasonal jobs at hut systems in New Hampshire, Colorado and elsewhere.
Low risk for 10 years. Cooking, hauling loads and hosting hikers in a remote hut stay human; drones may someday carry some supplies.
Age 18+. One way to start: Take a weekend Wilderness First Aid course and apply to hut systems like the AMC huts for summer First: Wilderness First Aid (usually a 2-day course)
Classes: PE or weight training, Culinary arts, Biology.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.