The route between Wanaka and Queenstown opened about midday yesterday after being closed for two and a-half days.
Chains are essential, speed restrictions are in place and clearance is tight.
Queenstown Lakes District Council transport services manager David Knowles said yesterday there was the potential for minor avalanches near the summit and conditions were slippery.
Three snowbound cars are off the road near the 1076m summit after being abandoned or involved in an accident during last week's snowstorms.
"The pressure will come on because they [skiers] will expect this road to be open. The workers have been doing long, hard hours. They have had to do that, because if they had stopped and waited until it stopped snowing, they would now be behind," he said.
Ill-prepared motorists or people venturing on to the pass during closures had made "silly" decisions, he said.
Last Sunday, the workers helped an Indian family who drove a rental car without chains to the summit and got into trouble.
On Monday, they towed out a Saudi Arabian family who had been trapped overnight in their campervan.
On Tuesday, they retrieved a passport from an abandoned car so a Brazilian tourist could fly home the next day.
"One of the things that I've heard is that tourists in rentals are just following their GPS. We may have to look at that, to see if we can get an advisory put on as to mountain conditions . . . But I think the message has got through now. We had a lot of people coming through when the road was closed but we've made the effort to put up extra barriers," Mr Knowles said.
Snow banked up against road barriers has also narrowed the road significantly in places.
Diggers have been throwing snow over the rails but long-time Cardrona resident John Lee has suggested a snow-blower would be more effective and cheaper.
Road crews have not been immune to problems. A grader slipped off the road on Monday and snowploughs have got stuck.
