Skateboarding is a man’s world. At least, until these female pioneers came along and shook things up a bit.

From the famous image of Patti McGee’s handstand on the cover of Life magazine in 1965 to Hillary Thompson, the world’s first transsexual pro skater, these women have been pushing new boundaries in skateboarding for decades. Without them, female skating wouldn’t be what it is today.

There are plenty of sick new pros you should know about – Lizzie Armanto, Nora Vasconcellos, Marisa Dal Santo, Alexis Sablone – but we’ve decided to focus on the chicks who’ve paved the way for skaters today.

Click through and see who we’ve chosen…

Have we missed anyone out? Leave your comments below!