The public will be banned from using The Remarkables skifield's access road, overlooking Queenstown, in the new year for safety reasons.
The road closure, from January 5, comes after several near misses with heavy vehicle traffic servicing the construction of a new base building.
Queenstown skifield operator NZSki will close the winding gravel road - above the 4km sealed section - for months and possibly until the start of the 2015 ski season.
Apart from construction vehicles, the only road users allowed will be concession holders such as mountain guiding companies, school groups and recreation associations.
In an email to interested parties last week, skifield boss Ross Lawrence said the heavy traffic and road conditions had resulted in ''a number of near miss'' incidents on the road, mostly caused by public vehicles travelling on the wrong side of the road and stopping on blind corners.
NZSki chief executive Paul Anderson said: ''It's just not the kind of thing we want to take a risk on.''
Local mountaineer Dave McLeod said NZSki was entitled to close the road for health and safety reasons but denying public access would be ''very unsettling'' for many people, including sightseers and climbers.
Mr Anderson said the company was obliged to listen to concerns raised by its lead contractor.
The road closure stemmed solely from its concerns over ''the health and safety of our contractors and the health and safety of the other persons that are using the road''.
The company delayed the closure till the end of the busy Christmas-new year holiday period, Mr Anderson said.
But construction traffic would increase from January 5 as building work increased, he said.
Mr Anderson predicted 100 to 200 heavy vehicles, such as concrete trucks and reticulated panel trailers, would be using the road each month.
''That's far too many for us to be comfortable [about allowing public access].''
The road might open during Easter, he said.
Mr Lawrence said access at the 4km mark, at Windy Point, would be controlled by a gate and there would be signs.
''The gate will be locked overnight, between the hours of 6pm to 7am - or as contracting staff exit and enter the site.''
Mr McLeod, who is one of about 15 concession holders, said NZSki's Department of Conservation easement meant it was entitled to close the road but he questioned the need to do so.
Road conditions were ''way worse'' in winter, he said.
In 1999, when scenes for the Vertical Limit film were shot on the mountain, ''we were up and down that road regularly from dawn to dusk with big trucks and it was never a problem''.
