Dodo you've missed my point.
When I said if a runway slopes up your altimeter will be rising you have come back and said, correctly, that the first segment doesnt start on the ground, therefore my comment is irrelevant. My comment was based on yours where you said "simply, a positive gradient is where your altimeter is increasing." My comment is not irrelevant, an increasing altimeter on a sloping runway does not constitute a positive gradient for a segmented climb.