The reduction of agricultural use of alpine ecosystems went hand in hand with an increase of soil erosion in many areas. A possible reason for this phenomenon is the more frequent snow gliding in winter. In a large research program (part of the ECOMONT project) managed areas, as well as areas that are not used or only used to some extent, were investigated in order to find out their liability to snow gliding. By means of statistical methods, a model was designed that shall explain the influence of terrain parameters (slope inclination, exposition, altitude) as well as the influence of the management. The investigations have shown that the liability of alpine ecosystems to snow gliding increases with the reduction of agricultural use. Especially high gliding rates were observed on low soft dwarf shrubs canopies. Bigger dwarf shrubs or trees are obstacles and stabilize the snow cover so that the gliding rates decrease drastically.