Mount Everest

Question
Our local theater keeps showing a commerical for the Discovery Channel about Mount Everest. I was wondering if you could tell me if you know something about this mountain, or perhaps could tell me who to write to about it.
The first question is; what is the top of it made of? It looks like slate, or shale, or possibly granite. I am not a climber, I use to collect rocks as a hobby so I am guessing from the color I see.
The second question is the height of the mountain. Since what I see on the commerical; a lot of wind, a lot of water, a lot of cold everything! I would guess that when the mountain reached it's max height a long time ago, it was a lot higher than it is now. Does anyone have a guess as to how much higher? Thanks for the time.

Answer
The mountain is acutally growing.  It is the highest mountain in the world and is currently approximately 29,028 in elevation.  Here is one site I found that is very informative:  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Everest

Here is a link that talks about the geography:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3047313.stm

Hope this helps,
Nick