 Some of this retreat has resulted in efforts to slow down the loss of glaciers in the Alps . To retard melting of the glaciers used by certain Austrian ski resorts , portions of the Stubai and Pitztal Glaciers were partially covered with plastic . In Switzerland plastic sheeting is also used to reduce the melt of glacial ice used as ski slopes . While covering glaciers with plastic sheeting may prove advantageous to ski resorts on a small scale , this practice is not expected to be economically practical on a much larger scale . 
