But no-one could touch American Tanner Hall, who won the event in a modified competition caused by the weather. Byron was the first New Zealand male in fifth, with Beau-James next in 12th.
Hannah James, of Wanaka, was the top New Zealand female, finishing eighth in the women's event dominated by Japanese skier Miyuki Hatanaka.
Beau-James said Jossi, who performed with distinction in the recent northern hemisphere season, had wrist and back injuries from doing a switch front flip in the weekend.
Beau-James and Byron will compete again today.
"It was all right, aye, competing against the best guys in the world. It was a really good experience," Beau-James said.
The free ski open competition started at 1pm, after an untimely dump of snow overnight.
It thwarted attempts to prepare the terrain park for the slopestyle competition, and forced organiser Snow Sports New Zealand to bring the halfpipe competition forward a day. The slopestyle event will now run today.
