Aleksandr Sergeyevich Vishnevsky ( , Aleksandr Sergeevič Višnevskij, Alexander Sergeyevich Vishnevsky) (August 18, 1955 June 13, 2015) was a Russian speleologist, most known for his cave exploration work in the Urals and in Uzbekistan. After 2000 the latter area of his work became one of the speleology hotspots as it includes the Boybuloq, the deepest cave in Central and East Asia, and one of the deepest caves in the world.
Early life, education and career
He was born into the family of Sergej Pantelejmonovič Višnevskij, a military civil engineer and builder of Kolcovo airfield in Sverdlovsk and of Marija Georgievna Višnevskaja, a chemist. After elementary and middle school in Sverdlovsk Višnevskij graduated, in 1978, at the Faculty of Geography and Biology of the Ural State Pedagogical University, also in Sverdlovsk. After graduation he followed the compulsory state assignment to teach geography at a school for troubled teenagers in Polunočnoe [Midnight Place], in the north of Sverdlovsk region. In February 1981 he was reassigned to a middle school in the village Novoalekseevskoe, close to Sverdlovsk, in the same capacity. In 1984 he returned to Sverdlovsk, to work at the School of Advanced Studies in Tourism, from 1991 in the Speleocenter travel agency, until he opened Al'pur, sports and recreation store, in 1995.
Speleology
In high school Višnevskij got interested in caves and speleology. In 1973, as a student of geography, he traveled a lot in the Urals with SGS (Ekaterinburg Speleo Club), to which he was accepted as a member in 1974. After graduation in 1978, during his years as a teacher of geography he organized speleology courses and educated several generations of young speleologists. In 1984 he returned to his hometown and began to participate in the activities of tourist and speleological organizations of the USSR. He was one of the founders of the ASU (Association of Speleologists of the Urals, established in 1989), and its first president. He also became a senior member of the Russian Geographical Society. In 1999 he served as the vicepresident of the Russian Union of Speleologists. Višnevskij participated in several scientific projects, he was involved in the development and application of new speleological equipment, such as single-rope technique.
He organized, headed or supervised regional and all-Soviet Union speleological expeditions and training events: in 1976 two speleo camps in Western Caucasus, in Fisht massif and in Alek massif, in 1977 an expedition to Optymistychna Cave in Ukraine and all-Union speleo camp in Alek massif, in 1978 7th conference on the speleotourism issues in Perm, speleo camps in Gubaha, Western Urals and at Lake Bajkal, in 1979 all-Union gathering of caving instructors in Western Caucasus, Alek massif, in 1980 speleo camp at the same location, in 1981 4th speleotechnics meeting of the cities of the Urals in Sverdlovsk, speleo camp on the Kirk Tau plateau and a cave search expedition to Čak-Čar, southwestern Gissar range, both in Uzbekistan, in 1983 another search expedition to Gissar range, an educational training trip to Alek massif, 7th speleotechnics meeting in Šihan near Čeljabinsk, exploration trip to Kujbiševskaja cave on Arabika massif, speleo camp in the Northern Urals, in 1985 an educational camp on Bzyb range and an expedition to Iljuhin cave on Arabika, both in Western Caucasus.
During the difficult years for the Russian speleology, after the collapse of the USSR in 1991 his organizational skills and financial support helped SGS and Sverdlovsk-Ekaterinburg caving preserve the legacy of previous years. In the following years he led expeditions and field trips mainly to Central Asia, but also to other destinations such as Italy, Nepal and Norway.