My guess is that the poor winch driver is a glider pilot himself/herself most of the time? Just taking a turn on the rota.
Yep - some of my 'longest days' were left and forgotten at the far end of the airfield for hours on end manning and operating the winch.
Operating a glider winch is a bit of a black art involving observing the climb rate of the glider, the slackness of the rope, the engine and drive train sound and many other things. If a guy is proficient on one winch, this does not at all mean he can just switch to another winch and operate it with the same expertise in a second.
Yep!