High winds have closed Mt Hutt skifield today and 1200 people are stranded on the mountain.
Ski field manager Dave Wilson said the field was closed shortly after noon because of the conditions and driving down the access road was not an option due to poor visibility.
But everyone was safely inside and he hoped the weather would improve enough to allow people to drive down.
If the weather did not improve people would have to stay on the mountain overnight.
The early closure is just another niggle in Mt Hutt's winter ski season, which has been blighted by accidents.
Three skiers have been killed and one seriously injured in accidents since the season opened in July.
Mr Wilson said earlier today staff were looking at mitigating accidents as much as possible by reviewing signage and encouraging people to know areas and hazards before skiing.
In the latest accident yesterday a man was snowboarding off trail when he lost his balance and toppled over a bank, landing on the access road about 3m-4m below.
He was airlifted to Christchurch Hospital with head injuries.
On Tuesday, Mt Hutt was temporary closed after an avalanche on the south face of the skifield left "two to three" skiers partially buried, but uninjured.
The deaths of three skiers and a man who died after his car veered off the mountain's access road as he left the slopes are still being investigated.
Mr Wilson said all the deaths were unrelated, making it difficult to pinpoint one cause.
"At this stage we are going through our investigation, but we can't put our finger on one thing that can easily fix all of these.
"A lot of these accidents are a combination of a number of decisions made along the way,"
He said yesterday's accident was quite different.
"It was just someone losing their balance, which can change from feeling safe to being in a position of unsafe quite quickly."
He said the injury rate on the mountain was in line with the national rate.
Every day, with an average of 2000 visitors, there were about nine people who needed treatment, including some with minor injuries such as sprains. Mr Wilson said Mt Hutt staff continuously looked at mountain conditions, assessed a skier's ability, the condition of the gear, and signage to see if safety could be improved.
The trails weren't particularly dangerous -- it all depended on the rider's ability, he said.
"It can be dangerous if you've got a beginner in an intermediate trail. It's dangerous if you've got an advanced person on an expert trail. It's about matching your ability to the terrain."
Mr Wilson said despite the accidents, the mountain continued to see an increase in visitors.
"They know that it is a mountain environment and situations could change very quickly. We haven't had a lot of negative feedback from the public at this stage."
NZPA