Skiers came across a one-man tent and a two-man tent when they went up the mountain on Monday.

By Tuesday afternoon, when they saw the tents were still unoccupied, they became alarmed and called police.

Mount Beauty's Leading Sen-Constable Peter Johns said police were able to locate one of the tent owners using the trip intentions books located at the mountain's entrances.

“On Sunday evening a group of three mates decided to leave because of the bad weather,” Sen-Const Johns said.

“In doing so they left their tents on the summit of Mount Bogong.

“A second group of skiers who went up to camp were concerned someone had gone missing.”

Police called everyone listed in the book since Sunday and eventually found one of the men who is from Sunbury in Melbourne.

Sen-Const Johns said it was fortunate they contacted the man in time as search and rescue teams had just arrived at Mount Beauty.

He said with bad weather forecast for Wednesday night, it would have been dangerous for any search to go ahead.

“There are so many unknowns in that situation and trying to cross them out can be time consuming and time critical depending on circumstances,” he said,.

“You assess your own risk and you know your capabilities - so I don't blame them for leaving.

“The skiers who left the tents could have rung the police or left a note in the trip intentions book to say what they had done, so people wouldn't be alarmed when they saw the tent.”