New Zealand Winter Games organisers can reflect proudly on what they have achieved.
They have battled Otago's isolation from the world's ice and snow sports powerhouses, an unseasonal run of poor weather and the lack of any tradition or strong foundation in top winter sports' competition.
In the end, they achieved reasonable media coverage, a respectable standard of competition in most areas and an increased profile for both the various sports and the various venues.
The geographic spread of sites was both helpful and a challenge.
The events had to be where the facilities were and hence Dunedin, Naseby, the Snow Farm on the Pisa Range and Cardrona, the Remarkables and Coronet Peak all took their share of interest and activity.
Each had their time in the limelight, particularly important for lesser known places like Naseby and the Snow Farm, and the impact of competitors and supporters was spread.
On the other hand, that meant the Winter Games were splintered, and therefore lacked cross-discipline camaraderie and the sheer scale of a combined event.
As well, outside media faced the difficulty of long distances between sports venues.
Queenstown revelled in its status as the headquarters, while the impact in Wanaka was patchy.
The ice skating in Dunedin was worthwhile without standing out, while tiny Naseby, population 100, came alive.
The week before the Games began, the town was in late winter hibernation.
It awoke to play host to high-ranked curling teams from around the Pacific Basin and to intense competition. Curling was exotic enough to capture media interest and was a popular part of the Sky coverage.
Perhaps it was the weather, or maybe the outside broadcast resources required, but some would have preferred more action and fewer interviews from the skiing and snowboarding.
Winter Games coverage was prominent in local media and, as the Games went on, began to make its way into national television sports bulletins.
Around New Zealand, the publicity was such that Otago's place for anyone considering a winter sporting holiday was highlighted, thus helping sustain the popularity of the province to that section of the tourist market.
Internationally, though, the impact is harder to judge.
Figures like feeds to 34 countries and claims of broadcasting to a potential audience of 500 million viewers need to be treated with caution.
It is, realistically, hard to imagine the coverage being broadcast in prime times to large audiences.
If television broadcasts are going to draw big ratings in the United States or Europe, then more superstars of the various disciplines, such as snowboarder Shaun White, will be needed at future events.
Adaptive skiing increased the number of participants and supporters and was a smart move, and, no doubt, the organisers have learned many practical lessons.
As they themselves acknowledge, the next goal has to be to attract spectators in substantial numbers, part of what marks the significance of an event.
Once again, the key will be big international names.
New Zealand's back-to-front seasons compared with most of the snowsport world was advantageous in attracting international training squads and international competitors.
In fact, a substantial number of the Games' 800 athletes from 40 countries might well have been in the South anyway.
Others will have been attracted by the chance for late off-season training and competition before the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in February.
Thoughts now turn to a planned repeat in 2011, in one way easier because a track record has been established.
But achieving a high standard in the premier skiing and snowboarding could well be more difficult because the Games will not act as a prelude to the Winter Olympics.
As well, NZSki, owner of Coronet Peak and the Remarkables, has stated that it only wants to host the Games every four years.
Its chief executive cites the prestige values of a rarer event, and the company must be mindful of the disruption to its normal skiing business.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Clive Geddes favours 2011, and those weary organisers and backers now face, once the celebrations and debriefs are over, a quandary over which way to jump.
What is certain, though, is that the ambitious experiment of hosting a winter games across Otago is well worth repeating.
