The 30-year-old was stranded on a 13,000ft mountain for five days with fellow climber and best friend Jamie Fisher who did not survive the trek.

I have climbed Ben Nevis more times than I can count, but this time has probably meant more to me than previous times

Jamie Andrew

Mr Andrew was rescued alive, but suffering from such severe frostbite that both hands and both feet had to be amputated.

He was determined to return to mountain climbing and he made Sunday's hike to raise money for charity and to remember his friend Jamie, 28.

After taking 12 hours to complete the Ben Nevis round trek, he said: "I am pretty exhilarated and completely exhausted.

"I have climbed Ben Nevis more times than I can count, but this time has probably meant more to me than previous times."

Earlier he celebrated reaching the summit by kissing his girlfriend, Anna Wyatt, 27, who accompanied him with friends and members of the Royal Air Force.

Friend died

During the Alps trip last January, the two men were caught in a fierce blizzard and became trapped on a mountain ridge in freezing temperatures.

By the time they were eventually plucked off the ridge on Les Droites near Chamonix, Mr Fisher was dead.

The two friends, both experienced and well-equipped climbers, had shared a flat in Edinburgh.

Jamie Fisher perished during ordeal

Mr Andrew, whom doctors said was lucky to survive the ordeal, had custom-built gear for the climb - a pair of specially designed artificial legs and walking sticks which fit over the stumps of his arms and legs.

He said: "I was worried I'd caused all this fuss and I wouldn't be able to do it in the end."

But Mr Andrew had never given up hope of climbing again following his amputations. He added: "Right from the start I was determined at least to make a go of it."

He said the climb had also brought back memories of the last time he scaled Ben Nevis, which had been with Mr Fisher.

�10,000 for charity

He said: "We had a fantastic time on the hill. I know that if he was there instead of me he would have done it too."

The climb was suggested by the RAF Mountain Rescue Association and Mr Andrew said he hoped to raise about �10,000.

Half the money will go to the Across Trust, a charity which wants to convert a bus to take the sick and disabled on holiday, and the rest to the British Red Cross to help the victims of land mines.

A second amputee fundraiser who was also taking part in the climb marked his achievement by proposing to his girlfriend on the summit.

Ali Brown, 32, from East Lothian, who lost his left leg below the knee in a climbing accident in 1992, knelt down in the snow to ask his girlfriend Trish Taylor, 27, to marry him.

He said: "I actually had to kneel in the snow before she would believe me."