Police have urged inexperienced hikers to avoid taking to the snowfields during extreme conditions after a group of people recently spent a freezing night stuck at the highest point in Victoria.
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Emergency services were called to Mount Bogong on Friday after six people became trapped at the peak of the mountain in bad weather.
They had been well prepared but were unable to make their way down, and set up two tents - one of which became damaged.
Winds of about 90km/h buffeted their tents amid sub-zero temperatures.
Half of the hikers were experienced - some have even been to the Mount Everest base camp - but one of the inexperienced people set off their emergency positioning beacon.
A lengthy operation involving police, SES volunteers and the Falls Creek Ski Patrol attended a car park before heading up to the top of the mountain on Saturday morning.
A police helicopter was on standby but was unable to pick the group up due to cloud cover.
The hikers were healthy and uninjured, and returned to the bottom of the mountain on Saturday.
Senior Sergeant Doug Incoll said the weather had been fine when the group set off but became worse.
"They became very concerned for their welfare," he said of the inexperienced hikers.
"They hadn't experienced conditions like that and set off their EPIRB in their tent.
"Police monitored overnight and the weather had calmed the following morning."
Senior Sergeant Incoll said police had maintained phone contact with the group to calm them down during the incident.
"Bogong probably isn't the best place to go if you're inexperienced, and those who are experienced need to make informed decisions about the weather conditions," he said.
"It's not the place to go in the middle of winter if you haven't experienced it before.
"People need to take into account that it's an extreme environment.
"Extreme weather conditions are to be expected.
"You need to be prepared for high winds and blizzard like conditions.
"The good thing is they're all safe and well."
The hikers had all been well prepared for the journey, which can take twice as long in extreme conditions.
It was the first rescue on the mountain for the winter season.
Police had been involved in a rescue near Falls Creek on June 7, when a 12-year-old boy had the skin ripped off his knee after jumping into a rock.
