A Nepalese man who climbed the world's highest mountain despite the loss of a leg has been given this year's Everest Award that commemorates the first ascent of the peak.

Nawang Sherpa, 33, who lost his left leg below the knee in a motorcycle accident three years ago, climbed to the top of Mount Everest May 16.

Nawang is the first Nepalese citizen without a leg to scale Everest.

He climbed the peak using an artificial leg and was accompanied by two Nepalese sherpas, the General Secretary of the Everest Summiteers' Association, Diwas Pokhrel said Saturday.

In 1998, US climber Tom Whittaker, who had also lost a leg below the knee, set a world record by climbing the 8,848-metre (29,048 feet) peak.

Nawang hails from Solukhumbu district in east Nepal.

The annual award was established by the Everest Summiteers' Association to mark the first ascent of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa May 29, 1953.

The award carries a cash prize of 10,000 rupees.