At his peak, professional snowboarder Mike Basich was clocking $170,000 a year, enough to get himself into a 4,000-square-foot house he ultimately discovered he didn't need. Now retired from competition, Basich spent five years building himself more unusual digs: An off-grid stone and wood cabin less than 250 square feet, located on a 40-acre plot of land he purchased in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Enter a caption (optional)

It took a long time to build as Basich did most of the work himself, sourcing the granite, pine and Douglas Fir from the property itself. The "toilet" is outdoors, absent even an outhouse; the electricity comes from solar; the water is snowmelt; the heat comes from large south-facing windows.

Enter a caption (optional)

Journalist Laura Ling took a closer look at Basich's place for her web series "Going Off Grid," and the episode went live last week:

If Basich seems like an outlier to you, consider the stats Ling presents in "Going Off Grid's" description: "[We examine] how 180,000 Americans a year are choosing to live entirely disconnected from our modern internet-focused world in pursuit of a more sustainable, simple lifestyle."