Is it possible to make another way to go up a straight mining shaft in minecraft?

Is it possible to make another way to go up a deep mining shaft? Because after the 1.7 update water lifts will not function properly.

Solution 1:

Water elevators still work, but must be constructed differently.

Originally, you only needed "flowing" water to make your boat rise:

wSSw      Side view of elevator shaft (old-style)
wffw
wffw      S = water source block
wffw      f = flowing water
wff       w = any solid block ("wall")
wff
wffwwwww
wwww

However, boats no longer rise in water which is flowing straight down. Instead, you must construct the entire shaft out of water source blocks, which takes somewhat more time:

wSSw      Side view of elevator shaft (new-style)
wSSw
wSSw      S = water source block
wSSw      w = any solid block ("wall")
wSSl      l = ladder or sign (to prevent spill)
wSSl
wwwwwwww

Here's a video of Ethos repairing his boat elevator after the change:

Solution 2:

You could create a piston elevator, as seen here:

(There's a tutorial for it in the sidebar)

It's very fast and convenient, but it requires a lot of time setting up. The upside is you don't have to carry a boat with you.