A firefighter has spoken of the dramatic moment he fell through the ice on a glacier into a crevasse on Mont Blanc and clung to the edges with his arms to save his life.

Mark Seal, 35, realised that unless he could quickly pull himself out of the icy water, he was likely to become one of the 100 climbers every year who perish on the mountain.

Back home in Dover this week, Mark said he realises just how lucky he was to survive.

A mountaineer with 10 years’ experience, Mark had spent three months researching the climb he was planning to make, studying the various routes, and preparing physically by running, weight-lifting, pack walking and swimming.

He set out from Chamonix on what was planned to be a four-day climb over the Mont Blanc traverse.

"Towards the end of the first day, the ice gave way beneath my feet and I fell into a crevasse, plunging into icy water up to my arm pits," he said. "Fortunately, the hole was narrow enough for me to put my arms out and hold my head and shoulders above the water.

"I used my ice axe to pull myself out. There was only a few hours of daylight left, so I decided to camp for the night. I had injured my knee – I later found out I had bruised the ligaments and tendons – and the pain got worse during the night.

"It was an emotional night, thinking about my family back home and trying to decide what to do. I set off early the next morning, but there were gale-force winds, blizzards and frequent white-outs, forcing me to make regular stops."

At 10,000 feet, Mark decided to camp again. By then, because of the altitude, he had no appetite and was also becoming dehydrated and suffering nose bleeds. He decided to return to Chamonix, left some of his equipment and headed for a cable car at Aguille du Midi, 2,500 feet further up. On the way he met two French climbers, who had also abandoned their climb, and followed them for two hours to the cable car.

At Chamonix he told the mountain rescue station where his equipment had been left. On their advice he hired a guide to retrieve it but, after six hours, the guide was beaten back by the conditions.

Mark added: "I returned to the mountain rescue station and told them what had happened and that the equipment was still there.

"So I was surprised a few days after I returned home to get a call from the mountain rescue people to say they had recovered my property, but they had been searching for me for 24 hours.

"I told them I had reported everything to them, and they said there must have been a breakdown in communication at their end."

Mark is now relieved to be back home with his partner Beverley and four-year-old twins Harrison and Erin.

He plans to return to Mont Blanc later in the year for another climb – but this time with a firefighter colleague.