Among those many marshalls, drivers, delivery people, bib collectors, course caretakers and countless others are Lowburn farmers John (70) and Barbara Hosie (74), who were so taken with their first Winter Games volunteering experience in 2009 they did not hesitate in doing it all again this time around.
"I wanted to come up and see it. I thought the sport would be exciting. I was all for having Winter Games in New Zealand," Mrs Hosie said, on what initially inspired her to sign up.
"I thought Arthur Klap's [Winter Games chief executive] idea when I read about it was bonza."
Mr Hosie - a trustee for the Cromwell Resource Centre which relies heavily on volunteers - has a first-hand appreciation of the importance of volunteerism.
"This country works on volunteers ... no town or city would work without volunteers."
After their efforts in the inaugural Winter Games in 2009, when they stepped up at the last minute to help at extra events not on their roster, the Hosies were recognised with a special award from Sparc - a trip to the rowing world championships at Lake Karapiro last year.
The rewards reaped during the Winter Games were plentiful too, they said.
"The people you work with are always just regular, pleasant, wonderful people ... they're all what I would call positive people and often they're young people from overseas ... you hear so many awful things about young people today. We get to see the other side," Mrs Hosie said.
Collecting race bibs from the athletes - just one of the couple's many and varied volunteer duties - was another perk.
"You watch them and you see them perform and then you get to meet them after they've finished their work. What a thrill that was," she said.
Mr Hosie was equally impressed with the sporting talent on display.
Winter Games volunteer manager Anna Hiatt said the volunteers' input was pivotal to the event's success.
"They are absolutely integral ... it's an incredible inspiration to see how they turn up day after day," she said.
