Record-breaking mountaineer Rhys Jones, 21, was crossing an Arctic wasteland 400 miles from the nearest settlement when he plunged 15ft into a crevasse.

He landed on a thin sheet of ice that broke his fall and prevented him from tumbling into the darkness below.

The two other members of Arctic Trilogy, a month-long expedition to Greenland, dropped a rope into the crevasse and hauled him to safety.

Rhys was suitably grateful to his companions for saving his life but believes their skill was not the only factor involved. He also attributes his survival to the protection supposedly afforded by a gift from the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of the people of Tibet.

Rhys was preparing to tackle Mount Everest last year when he donned one of the necklaces given to climbers to bring them good luck.

He said: "The necklace had been blessed by the Dalai Lama and was given to me when I visited a monastery in Nepal.

"About two years ago a climber was on his way to the top of Everest when he dropped dead from a heart attack. The sherpas believe he died because he'd removed his necklace.

"I've never taken mine off and maybe some of the luck transferred from Everest to Greenland.

"Several factors prevented my fall from being much worse than it could have been. There was certainly a large element of luck involved and I'm not normally a lucky person."

Rhys's brush with death occurred just one week into the expedition.

As reported in the Daily Echo, the three climbers set out to scale the three highest peaks in the Arctic Circle and were skiing towards the Watkins Mountain Range when disaster struck.

Rhys was crossing a snow bridge when it suddenly gave way beneath the weight of his sled.

Now safely back home at Bartley in the New Forest, he recalled the terrifying moment last month when the expedition almost ended in tragedy.

He said: "My sled started sliding towards the edge. I tried to stop it but it swung into the crevasse, ripping me off my feet and into the hole upside down.

"The ice walls were as hard as bullet-proof glass.

"I bounced off them three times before hitting another small snow bridge five metres down. I didn't think I was going to die but I hadn't looked in the crevasse and didn't know how deep it was.

"I just kept thinking this is going to hurt' - and I was right."

Rhys stayed as cool as the ice around him. Calmly reaching for the camera in his pocket, he took a unique photograph of the expedition's guide, Matt Spenceley, peering down at him as he waited to be rescued.

However, his joy at being saved was soon overtaken by dismay at the extent of his injuries, especially those to his arm.

"I was in absolute agony," he said. "My ankles, right leg, ribs, shoulders, and neck were hurt too - but those injuries were nothing in comparison."

Matt and the other member of the expedition, Gareth Smith, noticed that Rhys's arm was swelling fast.

Rather than resume their marathon trek across Greenland, the climbers abandoned their original goal and decided to explore the area around them.

Luckily, Rhys was well enough to take part in their attempt to scale as many unclimbed mountains as possible.

"The day after the fall we climbed the first virgin peak," he said. "It was an amazing experience, being the first people ever to set foot on its summit."

The climbers conquered a total of four mountains and named one of them after Warner Goodman, the Southampton law firm that sponsored the expedition. They also ventured into valleys never before seen by Westerners, even finding the remains of an ancient settlement.

Rhys said: "It was a truly exploratory expedition - even the maps we had were 80 years old.

"One of the most memorable nights was when we found a giant log that had been washed into a fjord. We camped by the coast with a driftwood fire while watching icebergs roll over at sea."

Rhys has returned home with stunning photographs and video footage of his trip to one of the most inhospitable but beautiful parts of the world.

He is planning to give a series of lectures about the expedition, beginning with a talk to local businessmen at Southampton International Boatshow on September 14.

Looking back, Rhys believes his fall into the crevasse resulted in a hairline fracture of the arm but knows it could have been so much worse.

"I'm lucky my sled fell in before I did," he said.

"If I had gone down first it would have tipped over and struck my head - and that would almost certainly have killed me."