Climate change, combined with socio-cultural, economic and political transformations in mountain regions, is profoundly altering mountain tourism dynamics (Achin, 2015; Bourdeau, 2009; François & Billet, 2010; Langenbach et al., 2017). While winter sports resorts are faced with an imperative to diversify, it is the blind spot constituted by "off-resort" that is chosen here as the field of research. In the face of a lack of knowledge about visitor numbers and the governance of "undeveloped" mountains, mountain refuges and the professions associated with them (refuge wardens, mountain guides, mid-mountain guides) are key markers of the territorial mutations brought about by global change (climate change, development of new tourist practices, pandemics, agricultural decline, etc.), as well as more local changes (revelation of new resources, development of new imaginaries, etc.). At the interface between valleys and mountains, refuges play a nodal role in the frequentation and evolution of the little-developed mountain territory. The aim of this thesis project is to examine these buildings in six valleys in the Franco-Swiss Alps, in order to understand the place of the refuge in the territory. Starting with territorial governance in these areas, we will analyze the various transformations of the refuge, whether in terms of its building, its functions or its activities. The different modes of governance can be both a driving force and a hindrance to the refuge's adaptation to the various changes mentioned above.