A question about the four-wheeler at the XC90

Was just in Croatia in Ulraub and the there hotel parking place had been in some places very scenic. So I stood slightly sloping below the paved road at a relatively steep embankment and wanted as a cool SUV driver easy up the slope. But Pustekuchen, every time the front left wheel had less grip through the slope, this only turned through and the whole car did not move any more – at least forward – My question is now, Wouldn’t have had to drive the rear wheels in this situation in order to push the car (and me, of course, not so cool anymore) up? Could something be wrong, or is the all-wheel drive at the Xc90 already overwhelmed? How can you test whether the all-wheel drive works? Greetings Patrick P.S. Croatia was by the way a dream, only unfortunately also become quite expensive….