Real Men dig straight down, or at least that's what Dataless822 says on a regular basis. Anytime you're digging a Mineshaft, you just dig straight down and hope you don't hit Lava. He is of course not the only person that feels that way. Instead of having this messy spiral staircase, you could just dig straight down, ladders and all. Okay, some would just pillar back up with the Cobblestone that they've gotten and go fetch the ladders later.
For those who are wondering, Dataless822 is an Aussie and has his own server, but it does lag occasionally. Keep in mind that the server is hosted in Australia. Dataless822 welcomes new people to come to check out his Livestreams, his Youtube Channel, and his website. You can follow and contact Dataless822 using the web addresses below.
http://www.dataless822.net
http://www.youtube.com/user/dataless822
http://www.facebook.com/dataless82
http://www.twitter.com/dataless822
At the current time, these are the only known accounts that Dataless822 currently has.