Wylie (18) finished 35th in the slalom at Formigal, Spain. Wanaka-based Leighton Winslowe did not finish his second run in the same event.
Wylie also competed at the world junior championships in Austria last year, and finished 70th in the slalom.
He is eligible to compete in the event next year.
Wylie returned to Queenstown on Tuesday and told the Otago Daily Times yesterday he would ‘‘have some time off to recover from the hard European season''.
He will then prepare for the New Zealand season at his home base of Cardrona.
It was a superb performance by Wylie, who is now the country's top-ranked skier. He is in line for selection for the Winter Olympics at Vancouver in 2010.
What made the difference this year?
‘‘I went to Europe a month earlier, in November,'' he said. ‘‘I had a lot more time to train before I started racing.''
Wylie spent a month in Austria before moving to his training base in Switzerland, where he polished his technique under the guidance of his Wanaka-based coach, Jonny Rice.
‘‘I'm a lot more balanced in the upper body now,'' he said. ‘‘I was leaning back too far.''
The other highlight for Wylie was being New Zealand's flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
Another significant performance in Europe was to win the giant slalom in an FIS race in France.
It was his first open FIS win. This is the third year Wylie has competed on the expensive European circuit. It costs him $1000 a week for the three months he is in Europe.
Wylie was a promising age group skier and won several New Zealand junior titles in ski racing and free skiing.
But the experience in Europe with his Swiss coaches, Cab Weissen and Ardi Bernistoni, has lifted his expectations. They are employed at Cardrona during the New Zealand winter.
The other top contenders for a place in the Olympic skiing team for the 2010 Winter Olympics are Winslowe, Ben Griffin (Awakina and Mark Bridgewater (Methven).
