Despite being told all the trails around Jasper were closed, I nevertheless fearlessly (or foolhardily) rented a mountain bike (a Kona something or other) from Freewheel cycles in town (recommended) and threw myself about the countryside. I had a good day tiring myself out, and discovered that it’s really quite hard to cycle in the snow.
The trick seems to be to put lots of weight on the rear wheel and keep the steering light and loose. The other trick seems to be get off and push. I mostly ended up employing the second and enjoying the first on the odd occasion. Leave the mountain biking for the summer next time…
Coincidentally, I met a couple of locals who pointed out that the road I was walking on was built by Ukrainian forced labour during the first World War - a curious link back to my family…