His jump of 78.5 metres at Olympic Utah Park was three metres shorter than the best he had achieved in practice earlier in the week and ranked him 43rd out of 48 jumpers.
Pedersen's Olympic debut had been delayed by two days after a blizzard put paid to the scheduled start before the opening ceremony on Friday.
"The K20 is my favourite hill anyway"
Pedersen looks forward
The 20-year-old from Thunder Bay in Canada, whose parents are both British, needed to finish in the top 38 to join the 12 who had already pre-qualified for the final.
Pedersen admitted: "They were excellent conditions for jumping but I lost my timing a little on take-off.
"If I'd got that right, I feel I could have qualified."
But he did at least manage to jump further than Britain's last ski jumper Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards, who famously finished a long way last in 1988.
And he is looking forward to Tuesday's qualification for the big hill.
The 20-year-old insisted: "If I address my timing on take-off I still believe I could qualify for that.
"Today was a great Olympic experience for somebody as young as me."