After arriving at the East Col, the leader of the other tour group and Palde each fixed separate ropes to the bottom of the East Col on the west side. Pemba Rinjii and Pasang scooted to the bottom of the East Col in a few minutes. Palde and Gyan then lowered the loads and backpacks one at a time to the bottom of the East Col. The strap on Palde’s backpack broke when it was being let down, and it fell near a crevasse. Luckily, they were able to retrieve it later.